Choices
by That'sSusanToYou
Summary: Post DH ignoring the epilogue Everything has changed since the chosen one saved their lives. People are in shock and some have changed; but how do you know who to trust?
1. Aftermath

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything for that matter (sucks) just the plot of this story

Be gentle with me guys, this is my first fanfic... Actually be ruthless! :) Hope you like it

She woke up, still dressed completely in black. The quiet snores filled the room. _What time is it? _

Seeing as the clock said "way too early" she guessed somewhere around 4 or 5. Harry stirred in his sleep while Ron began mumbling something, growing more and more erratic by the second. She walked over to him, trying to calm him but his arms began flailing around as he thrashed in his sleep. One blow hit her in the nose, sending her tumbling backwards.

Harry jerked awake and, seeing what was happening in front of him, yelled out.

"Ron! Stop it!"

Ron's eyes flew open wide and his thrashing came to a sudden stop. Harry went over to her cowering in the corner clutching her nose. It was broken.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Harry asked in concern as he took out his wand to fix her nose.

She gave a weak nod and let him fix it, praying to the heavens he would finally get it right.

"_Episkey,_"

Her nose tweaked to the right position with a painful crack. She smiled gratefully before going over to the boy still in his bed, sweating and panting.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione," he told her. "I didn't mean to–"

"It's okay, Ron. I'm fine,"

A silence echoed through the room. Harry sat back down in his bed, staring into nothing and Ron lowered his head back onto the pillow.

"You guys should go back to bed," Hermione broke the silence. "Its still early,"

Ron grunted and turned to his side, slipping into his slumber quickly. Harry, however, stood up and left the room with her.

"I don't really want to sleep anymore," he explained as they walked down the stairs of Grimmauld Place. It was spotless, Kreacher having cleaned up every speck of dust while awaiting his master, the destroyer of the Dark Lord. Mrs. Black's portrait was quiet for once and their footsteps reverberated down the halls. It felt lonely.

"I think with Fred's funeral and everything, he just needs some time." Harry told her. "We all need some time,"

"After all of this, I really am looking for some hope of happiness left in this world," Hermione told him grimly. Harry didn't say anything back; she knew he was feeling the same thing. Sure, Voldemort was gone, but everything he'd done still remained.

More silence. That was all that happened anymore between them. There were no more words left to be said, no more excitement left in their voices; they were alive, but barely.

"Are we going to the Burrow today?" Hermione asked.

"I want to," Harry smiled a little, thinking of Ginny. "I'm not so sure Ron will, but we'll drag him by his toes if we have to. Everyone wants to see him."

Ron couldn't deal with the loss of Fred and had refused to go see the rest of his family. Harry and Hermione had gone without him several times but Molly had given death threats the last time; they weren't going to take any chances.

********************

"Oh, Ronald!" Molly stumbled over to her son, throwing her arms around him. The whole family surrounded him, as Harry and Hermione stepped back from the tight circle of Weasleys.

Hermione felt suddenly tired. She sighed and rested her head on Harry's shoulder and he put a protective arm around her. She missed her parents.

"When are we going to go get your parents?" Harry said as if reading her mind.

She blinked in surprise. "Uh, soon I hope. I'm going to give it more time, just in case –"

"Yeah, I understand,"

They both walked back towards the couch and the Weasleys slowly joined them.

"How is Teddy doing, dear?" Molly asked Harry.

"He's doing well with Andromeda. I visited him yesterday," Harry answered with a smile. "He's better off with her. Andromeda will be able to take care of him a lot better than I would."

The family all burst into conversations like before. It was as if the war had never happened; they'd never lost Remus, Tonks and Fred 3 weeks ago.

Hermione's heart felt heavy. _We can try, but it's never going to be the same again._

********************

"Where are we going?" Ron asked warily.

"Just out for a walk, Mr. Paranoid," Harry joked. Hermione smiled too. They were strolling along the streets of London, with no specific destination. Ron's shoulders slumped as he walked and his hands remained in his pockets. Hermione's expression was distant and Harry's eyes flipped back and forth between them.

They chose to sit down in a muggle park and watched the kids run back and forth, not a care on their mind. Hermione envied them.

Her eyes wandered around the park; from the kids scurrying up and down and the parents chasing them, to the trees and bushes in the distance.

Her eyes rested on a lone dark figure in the distance, seemingly doing exactly what they were; nothing. But there was something about him that struck her as familiar. It was that hair that fell almost perfectly but with no trace of any products used and it's wispy, soft look. It shone almost angelically; _where had she seen that hair? That perfect silver-golden hair?_

It hit her.

She nudged Harry softly, tearing him away from his thoughts. He followed the direction her head pointed to subtly. He too, assessed the figure carefully before he realized who it really was. Hermione saw him gasp inaudibly and proceeded to stare at the man in the distance once more. She wasn't sure what she felt. Anger? Hatred? Pity?

She glanced over to Harry once again; he seemed to be just as conflicted about his emotions as her. But truthfully, they didn't really know; _is he good?_

Hermione put her hand on Harry's knee. "Doesn't matter," she told him. "Forget about it,"

He merely nodded. He started talking to her about their meeting with the ministry next week. The Golden Trio was to be rewarded somehow for restoring the good in the Wizarding World. It was a load of rubbish really. They weren't quite looking forward to it but the Ministry had been bugging them for quite a while; they had to deal with them eventually.

Absorbed in their conversation, they didn't notice as someone made their way towards them stealthily with his proverbial sneer.

"Well if it isn't the Golden Trio,"


	2. A New Beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot :]

Hey! I'm sorry the plot is still a little dry right now but it will get better, I promise! Read and review:] And be ruthless!

********************

**Previously on Choices:**

_Absorbed in their conversation, they didn't notice as someone made their way towards them stealthily with his proverbial sneer._

"_Well if it isn't the Golden Trio,"_

********************

Harry and Hermione froze in shock; they knew that voice all too well. Ron looked up for the first time and seeing the intruder, his face turned to one of anger.

"What are _you _doing here?" Ron accused. "This is a muggle park; come to massacre it, have you?"

"Just sod off," Hermione interrupted. She didn't want a duel breaking out (one: because she knew Ron would lose, and two: all the people who they'd have to obliviate later)

"Hey, hold on," much to the trio's dismay, he continued to humor the situation. "Why is it that every time I approach, you think I'm going to pick a fight? I get tired of them too," he sneered again.

They were all silent and Harry raised an eyebrow at him. His expression changed to something unreadable.

"I was thinking," he started, shifting his feet. Hermione noticed that he was unnaturally nervous about something he was about to say. "Maybe we could start over."

Harry, Ron and Hermione struggled to keep their mouths from dropping. _Start over?_

"Hi, I'm Draco Malfoy. Ex-death eater but I know I've changed since then so you can trust me," he ended with a twitch of his lips that looked like as far of a smile you could ever get from Malfoy.

Hermione took note of both Harry and Ron's faces; Harry was carefully assessing the situation and Ron just seemed angrier than ever.

"What makes you think that simply saying 'you've changed' is going to let us forgive you?" Ron raised his voice. Hermione put her hand on his knee, trying to silently tell him to calm down.

Malfoy smirked at him. He looked directly at Hermione who felt herself blush. "What's the matter, Weasley? Afraid my good looks and charm is going to steal your little girlfriend?"

Ron lifted himself off the bench, murder in his eyes, but before he could launch himself at Malfoy, Hermione blocked him.

"Okay! Malfoy, that is very… unusual of you, but we're going to have to take a rain check on that, alright? Come on, Ron." She led the fuming redhead out of the park leaving the blonde alone to realize what he'd just done.

********************

"You WHAT?" Blaise's voice rang through the house.

"I told you, it's no big deal." Draco answered.

"You went up to Potter, Weasel and Mudb–"

"Don't say it," Draco pointed at Blaise threateningly. Blaise stopped, confused.

"What happened to you, Draco? I mean just last month you were all, massacre the Mudbloods and kiss the Dark Lord's feet."

"Well, Blaise. Must I remind you that when you look back on it, I wanted no association with those death eaters after what happened with Dumbledore and my Mudblood phase was over far before all of this?" Draco looked over to Blaise pointedly. Blaise seemed to have a vague recollection. "I've always wanted to start over; now I've finally got a chance! Well, it's not looking too good right now. Weasley was just about to pounce and Potter's head will probably sizzle and burn with the amount of thinking he's doing about trusting me before he decides." Draco smirked.

"What about Granger?"

Draco wiped the smirk off his face. _Granger, maybe… _She was in shock, but she'd still said rain check, right?

"I don't know," Draco shrugged. "I'll tell you if I have any progress,"

********************

Harry paced back and forth across the living room while Hermione sat on the couch in front, her eyes following him back and forth. Ron had reached Grimmauld Place and walked up to the room, flopped down on the bed and pulled the covers over his head. That was code for 'leave me alone'.

"Harry, will you stop pacing? You're making me dizzy."

"Sorry, Hermione," he mumbled before dropping on the ground and sitting cross-legged.

"Stop over-analyzing. Maybe he really _is_ trying to make amends." Hermione shrugged. _It was possible, right?_

"This is _Malfoy_ we're talking about. Amends? Really?"

"We're probably never going to see him again."

"That's true," Harry agreed and put the matter to rest. Their afternoon went by tediously. Hermione was starting to wonder whether she missed hunting for Horcruxes or constantly fighting against some unknown evil. _Was life always going to be this monotonous?_

********************

Ron lay silently in bed, the blanket darkening his world. _Fred is gone, _he kept telling himself. _Get used to it_.

_I can't live like this forever, can I? I have to go out there sometime and not have to just plaster a smile on my face but actually mean it._

"Damn you, Fred," he muttered out loud.

_What would Fred have wanted? Wouldn't he have wanted me to get up and fool around like he used to? Wouldn't he have told me to crack jokes about his death much sooner than most people would be comfortable with?_

"Yeah!" Ron jumped out of bed with a yelp and dashed down the stairs.

He ran into the living room to see Hermione and Harry on the couch, Hermione's head resting on his shoulder.

"Get up, guys," Ron pulled them by their hands, trying not to laugh at their bewildered expressions.

"Ron, mate, what are you doing?" Harry asked him like he was crazy. Hermione snatched her hand from his grip and continued to stare at him like he was mental. Maybe he was, but he didn't care.

Ron reached and grasped Hermione's wrist again who stumbled forward as he dragged them both out of the house.

"Unhand me, Ronald!" Hermione said hysterically.

Before anyone could protest he turned on the spot with a crack, forgetting to check around for muggles, and apparated them away.

********************

"Ron you could have just told us you wanted to go out, you know? There was no need for the dramatics," Hermione told him with a laugh as they sat at the bar.

"I just had like an epiphany! And I knew that if I started talking to you about it; it would turn into some long, philosophical conversation. I just had to get out!"

"Okay, mate," Harry patted him on the back. They all picked up their firewhisky glasses and raised it up. "To life _after _the war!"

"Cheers!" they all echoed in unison.

They gulped down the burning drink all at once and immediately ordered more. Hermione felt the warmth spread through her chest and give her shivers at the same time.

"Ugh, I _hate _this song," Ron got up to go change it. Harry followed him too.

"I don't want you picking the song either, Ron," Harry smirked.

Hermione smiled to herself; she missed this. How they used to be before the war and before they lost everything. _Maybe we could get it back_, she thought.

"Cheers, indeed," she heard a voice behind her. She whirled around to face none other than Draco Malfoy.

He was drinking his own firewhisky as Hermione stared at him oddly.

"What?" he asked, feeling self-conscious.

"You just pop up everywhere now, don't you?"

"If you must know, I was in this bar before you, so _technically_," he smirked. "You're following me."

Hermione rolled her eyes away and stared straight instead of at Malfoy.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

"I already told you what I wanted," he said matter-of-factly.

"No, what do you _really_ want?" she asked again.

He looked at her for a moment, taking in her appearance. Her hair, still as wild as ever, was up in a ponytail and small ringlets that slipped out framed her face. Her eyes; her eyes were the deepest brown he'd ever seen. But they'd lost their spark; they were hollow now, just empty pools.

"I don't know," he replied after a moment. "I want to make up for my past. I want to feel like I have some good left in me. I want–"

"You want to look good in the papers?" she asked skeptically.

"No, Hermione, that's not it!" he said, suddenly getting desperate to make her understand. "I know what I've done in the past is wrong. I would've tried to make it better then, but I had no choice!"

She turned to look at him, her expression unreadable. But she was finally listening.

"If I get forgiveness from you, I think I'll be able to live with what I've done," he finished softly.

It was silent between them for a brief moment. Draco felt tired after that speech and Hermione looked deep in thought.

"Okay," Hermione said simply.

"Okay? That's all you say after I deliver my huge monologue?"

"How about; okay, I'll give you a chance?" she smiled at him.

He smiled back. A _real _smile. One she didn't know he was capable of.

"How about a hug?" he asked her.

"I don't see why not," she replied getting up.

He wrapped his arms around her thin frame and squeezed it very briefly before they both let go.

"I should get going then," he said after a silence.

"Yeah, Harry and Ron are going to come back soon," she answered.

"Could you tell them to also try and gi–"

"Of course," she assured him. And then turned back around to face her drink as he left the bar. Neither of them had failed to notice one thing that had happened tonight.

He called her Hermione.


	3. Getting to Know You

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, you know the drill, Harry Potter isn't mine no matter how much i cry and beg... boohoo

A/N: Yay! Chapter 3 is up! You might think this one is a little dragged and maybe it's a bit of a filler... but i like it.

You know what to do! The Three R's : READ REVIEW and be RUTHLESS :]

********************

**Previously on Choices:**

_Neither of them had failed to notice one thing that had happened tonight._

_He called her Hermione._

********************

Hermione stood by the window, staring out into nothing. What had happened last night was still a shock to her. _Did I accept the friendship of Draco Malfoy?_ No, friendship was too strong a word. It was more of an acquaintance.

_That's right, _she thought. _Keep telling yourself that._

It was still early, but she decided she might as well take a shower anyways. She couldn't sleep past until 4 o'clock anymore. Her body was attuned to waking up at odd hours in the morning now. Hermione always felt herself fall into slumber quickly, but wake up every hour starting from midnight. It was like she was subconsciously telling herself, _Wake up! The war is going on!_ No wonder she always felt tired.

She knew Harry and Ron were going to have enormous headaches when they woke up; they'd drunk a lot more than her. She always stayed away from inebriation; she knew that whenever she had a tad too much alcohol in her system, the person next to her would be wishing they were dead.

Hermione's mind wandered from one thought to the next with no connection. She began wondering about her parents; she missed them terribly, but she wanted things to cool down a little more to be sure of their safety when they came back. There was a fear in the back of her mind that she wouldn't be able to modify their memories back perfectly.

She pushed that out with a shiver.

She was at the kitchen, looking out the window onto the street in front. The muggles were peacefully asleep and were unaware of the curly haired witch watching them enviously. She saw someone outside, walking. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was still only four thirty, _who would be out now?_

The silvery blonde hair shone in the cloudy morning and she grimaced at the coincidence of seeing him three times in the past two days. Of course, he couldn't see the house because of the fidelius charm, but he still stole quick peeks, hoping to catch a glimpse of the now famous hidden Black house. Technically, it was the Potter house now, though. Everyone knew that the three of them were living there for a while, not wanting to be around too many people in the Burrow or smothered by reporters coming to their house.

Malfoy continued walking slowly across the street and Hermione continued to grow more confused. She went upstairs, grabbed the invisibility cloak and ran back down. He was right next to the house but wasn't looking in its direction anymore; he seemed lost in his own thoughts. She closed the front door quietly, disguised by the invisibility cloak so he didn't see her or the door and slowly walked to him.

"Malfoy," she startled him. He jumped, probably recognizing the voice but struggling to find it.

She took off the cloak and realization dawned on his face.

"Hey, Granger," he muttered, unenthusiastically.

"Fancied a stroll at four thirty in the morning?" she asked him skeptically.

"I usually can't sleep around this time anymore. I like walking around, it clears my head." he shrugged casually. "What about you?"

"The same; I couldn't sleep and I saw you walking by. Though I might join you,"

He smiled – actually smirked – a little. They walked in companionable silence for a while. Hermione took this time scrutinize his face; his pale, ghostly skin looked like it was glowing just like his hair, giving him an angelic look. He was dressed in all black and (though she hated to admit it) he looked quite gorgeous.

"Do I pass your assessment?" he smirked at her. Hermione felt herself blushing deeply as she looked away. She didn't know he'd been watching her out of the corner of his eye.

There was more silence; but it wasn't uncomfortable or awkward, it was nice.

"Where are your parents, Granger?" he suddenly asked.

She didn't know what to make of it. It seemed that everyone seemed to read her mind really well these days.

"They're in Australia," she said softly.

"You sent them into hiding?" he asked.

"Not exactly," she hesitated. "I modified their memories because I told them too much about Harry and I didn't want them to be under threat. So I thought the best way would be if they didn't know at all,"

He was a little surprised. Malfoy looked at her with sympathy.

"I'm sorry," he said. "That must have been hard for you. When are you going to get them?"

"Eventually; when things cool down a bit."

She wasn't sure exactly where they had walked to anymore but she trusted that Malfoy did, seeing as this was a daily ritual for him.

"What about your parents?" Hermione asked. "I mean, I heard that the charges were dropped but your father is on house arrest, right?"

He nodded. "Mother and I never really wanted any business with the death eaters and we were simply dragged by father. He was questioned quite a lot and I'm sure you've heard that a lot of people were outraged that he wasn't imprisoned, but he never actually killed anyone, you know?"

She actually didn't know. She just knew that he was the one that had slipped the Horcrux to Ginny in second year, he attacked them and chased after them in the department of mysteries in fifth year and she was tortured in his house just months ago.

She winced and shivered at the last memory, something that didn't go by unnoticed by Malfoy.

"Are you cold?" he asked her. "I'm sorry; I don't have a jacket with me –"

"I'm not cold," she assured him. "I'm sure it was also because your mother helped Harry too,"

"Yeah," he nodded. "By then, all of us were tired of this war. I just wanted it to be over,"

She smirked at the memory of them in Room of Requirement and then later when Ron had punched him while under the invisibility cloak.

"What?" he asked her, noticing her smile.

"We saved you twice in the middle of everything," she said. "The second time you didn't know it was us, we were under the cloak,"

"That was you guys who stunned the death eater, then?" he seemed amused. "Was it you who punched me too?"

"That was Ron," she told him.

"Makes sense; that was a pathetic punch," he nodded. Hermione smacked him a little on his arm. "What? I didn't call your punch pathetic did I? Yours actually hurt in third year," he rubbed his jaw at the memory.

Hermione smiled proudly; one of her finest moments.

"I should get back," she told him, turning around.

"I'll walk you back then,"

They began walking back where they came from and once again, completely silent. It was pleasant and soothing that they didn't fill it up with unnecessary chatter. He dropped her off in the front, between house 11 and 13.

"See you around, Hermione,"

"Bye, Malfoy,"

"You can call me Draco, you know?"

She paused in her tracks. _Draco?_ She wasn't sure how to respond.

"I'm serious, Hermione. Can't we be on first name basis now?"

She looked at him a little longer with a slight grimace. "Give me a little more time," she said. "We're not quite there yet,"

He smirked. "_You're _not quite there yet," he emphasized. "I'll give you some more time then, _Hermione_," he accentuated her name. It sounded so… sexy when he said it.

No. She did not just think that.

Hermione's face turned to one of shock and Malfoy's one of concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked her. "You look a little scared," he reached out to her a little and she stepped back.

"Yes, I'm fine," she said a little too quickly.

He put on his signature arrogant grin. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were afraid of commitment,"

"Commitment? Commitment to what?" she asked incredulously.

"Commitment to me." he said simply. She raised her eyebrows at him. "Not like that; I mean commitment as _friends_." he explained. "Unless you want it the other way, I have no objection," he stared at her as intently as he had the other day in the park.

She blushed and snorted. "Well good that you _do_ know better because I do not have commitment issues. I am not a _man_." she ended jokingly.

"Okay, Hermione," he said, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Keep telling yourself that."

She rolled her eyes and began walking to the front door.

"Maybe," he said a little louder, making her stop in her tracks again. "You're just afraid of me,"

She turned around and gave him a look that said _Are you mental?_ His hands were in his pocket. He shrugged and then waggled his eyebrows.

"Are you asking for another punch? Because I _assure _you that I have grown stronger since third year,"

"I'm just saying,"

Hermione couldn't help but smile. "This conversation is over," she told him, laughing a little. She turned again, and took a few steps to the door.

"Well, _I _assure _you,_ that it most certainly is not." he smiled mischievously, flashing his teeth quickly. "You want to continue this over coffee later? Like during _human_ hours?"

For the third time, she stopped. She felt a smile break out on her face.

"Pick me up," she said without turning around, and then walked into the house.

She sighed as she walked down the front corridor and stretched. _I should eat a little something_ she thought.

"Good morning Hermione," Harry flashed her fake smile as he sat by the kitchen window overlooking the street. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"


	4. Who Saw This Coming?

Disclaimer: I don't own a damn thing! Stop bringing it up... :(

A/N: Sorry it took a little long to update! But here's chapter 4!!! It's a little longer, and more eventful... I hope you like it!!

Special thanks to my editor raetaylor!! I love you! And some of her notes are in there too :)

You know the three R's: READ, REVIEW, be RUTHLESS :)

**Previously on Choices:**

"_Good morning Hermione," Harry flashed her fake smile as he sat by the kitchen window overlooking the street. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"_

* * *

She froze in the doorway. All her efforts were focused on not letting her legs sprint in the opposite direction. _Well,_ she thought,_ I had to face this sometime anyways_; but she needed more of a heads up. Harry continued to look at her, the question clear on his face, the peaceful mask slowly melting off. As Hermione began to fidget under Harry's intense stare, he grew more and more impatient.

"Hermione, what the hell is going on?"

"Let's go to the living room, shall we?" Hermione suggested. "With sofas and _soft_ cushions," she muttered under her breath as Harry lifted himself off his chair with a 'huff'. The knives and forks around the kitchen were starting to make her nervous.

She followed the raven-haired boy to the living room. She'd handled the ministry, Death eaters, hell she'd handled Voldemort! Then why did all of that suddenly feel so insignificant next to the red faced boy who lived?

* * *

"Blaise!" he shouted. There was no answer. "Zabini!" he tried again.

"Do you know what time it is?" he heard a drawl becoming louder behind him. Blaise walked in, clad only in boxers, his hair disheveled. Rubbing his eyes, he grumbled, "Merlin, it's not even 6 yet! What the hell do you think you're doing barging in here so earl–"

"I did it."

The hall went silent at once, Blaise having stopped whining at Draco. Malfoy felt a smile creeping onto his own face. _Stop it,_ he thought as he kept pouting his mouth, _I shouldn't be smiling this much_. Blaise seemed to still be in shock with his mouth just slightly open and his eyes staring at Draco as if seeing right through him; he looked a right sight. That boy was quite batty sometimes.

"I'm offended that you're _so_ surprised," Draco raised his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, I just…" Blaise trailed off. "I guess it's a bit too early to be delivering this kind of information to me and I'm having a bit of a hangover after last night and…" he trailed off again. Zabini's eyes slowly widened.

"What'd you do, Zabini?" Malfoy teased him. "Shag another insecure witch and accidentally leave her in your spare bedroom again?"

"You swore we'd never speak of that incident again," Blaise pointed his finger at Malfoy threateningly. "And I have to go take care of Lisa," he started walking down the hall, away from Draco. "Or is it Linda? No, Lena? Oh Merlin…"

Malfoy smirked; Blaise will always be Blaise.

He felt so proud that he'd won over Hermione; like he was finally making amends. It was amazing that she would accept him just like that after seven years of tormenting her. She was amazing. Everything about her; her eyes, her brains, and even that wild, twisted excuse for hair. Why hadn't he seen all that about her before? It was like –

"So which one did you get?" Blaise's voice interrupted his thoughts. Draco straightened himself with a jolt; had he really been thinking all that? No, it couldn't be; probably just… probably –

"Hello? Earth to Malfoy? Was it chosen fag, weasel, or Hermione?"

Draco turned to stare at Blaise like he'd grown two heads. "You just called her Hermione," he said with awe.

"Well you just _befriended_ her," Blaise pointed. When Draco looked at him questioningly, Blaise continued. "Please, it's obvious; Granger's big with the pity because she's a girl. Just shed a few tears in front of them and they'll go nuts. Plus, fag and weasel won't understand you long enough to hear you out anyways," Blaise shrugged as if this was the world's most common knowledge.

"Well, Hermione's not like that," Malfoy leaned against Blaise's kitchen counter and looked up into nothing in particular. "She's sensible and she knows what she's doing," Malfoy continued, not noticing Blaise's stare. "She's really forgiving and she listens to what you want to say. I don't think she's the same Hogwarts know-it-all anymore; the war changed her, you know?"

Blaise began snorting with laughter and Malfoy's expression turned to one of surprise. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Neither of them had noticed the blonde witch walk into the room.

"Are you listening to yourself, Malfoy?" Zabini shouted. "You've met her for like what, two days? And you're completely in _love_ with her!"

"No, I'm not! I just had a little moment…or something…" Malfoy became defensive.

"Maybe a wrackspurt got you," they both heard a dreamy voice from the corner.

Draco turned to stare at the girl that had just been in the spare bedroom. His head whipped back and forth between Blaise and her before he shook his head and chuckled.

"Seriously, Blaise? Her?"

* * *

"Hermione, explain," Harry's tone was final. The kind of tone your father or your big brother used on you when being overprotective. This was a similar situation. She would most likely begin saying something which he will then interrupt until he got tired.

"Well, you know what he came asking for in the park…" Hermione started, but as she'd predicted, he didn't let her finish.

"He's Malfoy, for Merlin's sake! Have you thought that possibly he's using you to get to us and exploit us? Did it occur to you that _maybe_, just _maybe_, he's a DEATH EATER? A DEATH EATER, Hermione!"

Hermione waited patiently, her arms folded across her chest. She resisted looking at her watch as he bellowed and ranted at her. It went on for a little longer as she heard something more about 'Death eater' and 'evil' and she even thought she heard 'sleazebag' somewhere in that mix. She wanted to laugh, but she held it back.

Harry seemed to get a little tired now. His arms went down to rest by his side and he sat back down on the couch she hadn't noticed he had gotten up from. Hermione felt a little guilty that she had managed to block out a lot of the screaming, but it was for a brighter future for her ears.

"Are you done?" she asked, a little coldly.

Harry simply nodded.

"Well, you've probably woken up Ron now too, so maybe I should just wait for him to come down so you can both attack me and my judgment together,"

"I don't think you have to worry about Ron; he's out like a light. Not even a parade of Blast-ended screwts and Hippogriffs are going to wake him." Harry smiled a little. Hermione did too; war or no war, Ron slept like a baby. When they'd been on the run last year, it took a lot of shaking and hexing to get him to wake up; most of the time, they just gave up and took over his turn to keep watch. (E/N: Hahahaha Ron *shakes head*)

"Hermione, what were you thinking?" he looked her in the eyes. "He's _Malfoy_!" it came out almost as a whine.

"Harry, you need to let go of your school prejudices," Hermione scolded.

"Have you forgotten that this was the person who called you Mudblood for 7 years? This is the person who tried to kill Dumbledore, whose house you were _tortured_ in –"

"Harry," she stopped him, wincing a little. Her encounters in Malfoy Manor were not one she liked to reminisce on.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "But what-how, I…" he spluttered. "How did this even start?"

"Well, the park incident was brief, but when he met me at the bar–"

"Whoa, the _bar_?" Harry's voice went high. "The bar? From last night? The bar where Ron and I were at the same time as you?" Hermione could hear the skepticism in his voice.

"You and Ron had gone to change the song or something," Hermione waved her hand, annoyed at the interruption. "He was trying to explain to me why he wanted to be in our good graces,"

Hermione was having a tough time replaying the scene from last night.

"_I don't know," he replied after a moment. "I want to make up for my past. I want to feel like I have some good left in me. I want–"_

"_You want to look good in the papers?" she asked skeptically._

"_No, Hermione, that's not it!" he said, suddenly getting desperate to make her understand. "I know what I've done in the past is wrong. I would've tried to make it better then, but I had no choice!"_

_She turned to look at him, her expression unreadable. But she was finally listening. _

"_If I get forgiveness from you, I think I'll be able to live with what I've done," he finished softly._

"How do you even _know_ he wasn't just making all this up?" Harry asked challengingly.

"Harry, after _seven _years, don't you know to trust me? I'm _always_ right," she stated matter-of-factly.

Harry didn't respond; he knew this was true. (E/N: Go Hermione!!)

"Besides, what could he want from us? Just give him a second chance!" Hermione continued pleading. "You of all people should know about second chances. And, Narcissa did save your life in the war, didn't she? The Malfoys were done with the Dark Lord by then so they probably want nothing to do with his memory too, so just–"

"Okay! Okay, Hermione," he cut her off. Hermione smiled triumphantly; she always got what she wanted. "I'll give him a second chance. Sheesh, you should be a lawyer," he added as an afterthought.

Hermione felt successful, but confused. Why did she care _so_ much? It was a little discomforting.

"Will you do me one favor, Harry?"

"Don't I always?"

"Don't tell him yet, please?" she glanced upwards. By Harry's expression, she knew that he understood she meant Ron. "Please?"

He opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off. "You _know_ how he gets! Please! Just, don't tell Ron,"

"Don't tell Ron what?"

They both turned to see a puzzled redhead standing at the foot of the stairs. Hermione looked to Harry, a pleading look in her eyes but he put his hands up in a surrendering position as if telling her_ he's all yours!_ She glared at him briefly before turning to Ron who had come and sat down on the couch next to theirs.

"Don't tell Ron _what_?"

Hermione sighed. This was going to be a _long_ day. (E/N: Hehehe you know Ron!)

* * *

_One month later_

"How did you discover this place, anyways? It was exceptionally hard to find,"

"I have my ways,"

"Tell me, these ways of yours, are they _legal_?" Hermione joked.

He stuck his tongue out at her.

"What are you, five? Show some class, Draco," Blaise scolded while sitting down with their drinks. Harry and Ron began raising their mugs so the rest followed.

Harry opened his mouth to say something when he was interrupted.

"Sorry I'm late!" Ginny pulled a chair and slipped between Harry and Blaise. Harry gave her a quick peck on her cheek as Ron looked extremely intrigued by the floor patterns.

They all raised their mugs once more and Harry began to say, "To–"

"Hello everyone. Sorry I'm late," the faraway voice seated herself between Ginny and Blaise, summoning a firewhisky for herself and Ginny. Harry sighed as they all once again, raised their mugs. He looked both sides and at the door before he started to speak.

"To…" he stopped. "What should we cheer to?"

There was a collective groan from all seven of them as Draco and Blaise simply began downing their firewhisky. The rest shrugged as well and began drinking. Blaise gave a tentative smile to Luna who returned it with an absentminded one. She was looking right at him, but her eyes seemed a thousand miles away. (E/N: Woah! They're hanging out together? That's a first but a good idea!)

Draco turned to his best friend. "What's the deal with you and Lovegood anyways? You've been on and off for weeks,"

Blaise shrugged. "We're never on. It's just a couple of shags," he tried to look nonchalant.

"That's not what your eyes are saying," Hermione said in a sing-song voice. Blaise gave her the look that said, _Seriously? My eyes?_ Draco came to her rescue.

"She's right, mate. Your eyes have spoken,"

"Well let's see what the eyes say now," Blaise said sarcastically before dramatically rolling his eyes and turning away from them. Draco and Hermione both burst out laughing.

"Hey, we're all up for Quidditch this weekend, right?" Harry announced. There were nods and sounds of approval all around the table as George Weasley came in, late as usual, and pulled a chair to seat himself between Harry and Ron.

"Hey, Hermione? Can I talk to you in private?"

She looked up from her half-finished drink. "Sure, Ron," she got up to follow him.

"Umm, well, I just-I," he stuttered a little.

"Ron, spit it out" she laughed. "It's me, not your mother,"

"I know that things between us sort of… fell apart with the war. Not that there was much of a thing between us, but still. And with the grieving, and… well that's just it; the grieving, we never really got a chance to talk about anything and I was just-well I–"

"Ron, you're rambling,"

"Do you want to start dating?" (E/N: OMG Did he just ask that?)

Hermione froze. _Well, yes! Isn't this what you always wanted?_ But she still couldn't open her mouth to say something. Ron continued to look at her expectantly but she simply stood there, trying to form words. _It's not what you want anymore, is it?_ The truth hit her with a blow.

Ron realized something was wrong as her expression turned to one of panic.

"Hey, hey," he comforted her. "Don't worry, you don't need to make a decision now," he caressed her cheek. "Just remember this."

He leaned forward and very hesitantly touched his lips to hers; it was soft and really sweet. But it felt wrong to her; like she was being kissed by her brother. (E/N: Eww)

_How can I tell him that?_ She looked at his hopeful face, his eyes wide and finally shining after two months. _It would break him._ Ron walked away, leaving her to ponder more about what had just happened. She felt the need to cry but she wasn't going to just yet; she just had to get home.

"Hey, guys," she approached the large group. "I'm going to take off, now,"

"Why?" Harry asked.

"I'm just not feeling too well, plus I have to walk quite a distance before I can disapparate because of the stupid ministry wards." The ministry was becoming quite tight on the security against muggles; in muggle areas such as this one, there were wards put up so that you couldn't apparate until you were quite far. They had to walk nearly three miles for an apparation point.

Harry had insisted they go to a muggle bar of some sort that wasn't very big; reporters were still crowding all of them wherever they went and they wanted some peace and quiet; and that came with a price.

Hermione walked out the front door quickly, into the breezy summer wind. She heard footsteps run up behind her. _Oh, please! Not now Ron!_

"Hermione," she heard a voice which definitely wasn't Ron's.

"Malfoy, do you need something?" she asked, a little rudely.

"Just thought I'd walk you to the apparation point." He shrugged casually. "It's a long way for a woman to walk alone,"

She simply nodded a little and they walked side-by-side in silence.

"You still don't call me Draco." It was a statement, not a question.

"Excellent observation," she told him.

"Why not? I call you Hermione, don't I? And you don't call Blaise 'Zabini' anymore either," he looked slightly offended. "So why am I still Malfoy?"

Hermione answered with a shrug. She truly didn't know but she just couldn't bring herself to say 'Draco'.

Draco huffed impatiently. "Where do you live again? I can't remember," he changed the subject, finally.

"Actually, quite close to the apparation point so I should be able to just walk home from there. It's a nice night,"

He nodded in agreement. "Why'd you move out of Grimmauld Place anyways?"

Hermione shrugged. "It's nice to get a place of my own. Ron's going to move out soon, too so Ginny can move in with Harry,"

This wasn't very interesting news for him; Hermione saw him look a little bored. Suddenly, he smirked. "What's the deal with you and Weasley?"

Hermione resisted the urge to whip her head around and punch him like she'd done four years ago. She could feel the blush deepening on her cheeks; he never missed a _single _thing, did he?

"Now why can't you call him Ron?" she pointed out. "Harry's not Potter anymore, Ginny's not Weaslette, you even stopped calling Luna loony!"

"I can't do it; to me, he's always going to be Weasley," Draco frowned. "If I call him Ron, will you call me Draco?"

She nodded. "Deal."

After another moment of silence, he said, "So what's the deal with you and _Ron_?"

She sighed. "He wants to get back together,"

"_Back_ together? Were you guys together before as well?"

Hermione explained the whole complicated story to him and which he laughed.

"What?" she asked, offended by his chuckle.

"I just think you can do _so_ much better than Ron," he said understatedly.

She stopped walking as he continued and she stared at his back.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked he noticed that she wasn't by his side anymore but behind him with her arms crossed.

"Well who do you think is better for me then?" she asked.

He turned around to face her, an unreadable expression on his face. She simply stood like an idiot, dumbfounded as he walked towards her with that same look, purpose in his every stride. He stopped right in front of her, just a few inches from her face, his smoldering eyes piercing hers. Her heart was beating fast and echoing in her ears; she wondered how he hadn't heard it yet.

Draco backed her against a wall that Hermione hadn't seen was there and softly held her cheek. His lips crushed against hers with surprising gentleness as his fingers ran through her curls. (E/N: Yay!!)

_No…no no no no no_. _This is not good. This is _not_ good. _But Hermione couldn't bring herself to push him away. Instead, her hands moved on their own, creeping their way to grasping Draco's neck. He moaned into her mouth, whispering her name as she relaxed herself more into his grip.

_This can't be happening._

E/N: OMG Go Susan! This is brilliant beyond brilliantness! I can just tell that the next chapter will be even more brilliant (actually I know it is cuz I've read it but you guys won't until Susan updated!! Haha) Just a few grammatical and structural error here and there but other than that brilliant (I used that a lot in this editor's note didn't I?) Anyways ily Susan and good job!


	5. Ultimatum

**A/N: Hey! Sorry this took a little longer but for some reason, I have go to this place to like learn stuff... it's called school... Don't worry, though, my friends and I will approach the government about abolishing this outrageous requirement soon. **

**Special thanks to shrus6291 who was my editor for this chapter!! I LOVE YOU**

**You know the three R's (or atleast you should by now) RATE REVIEW and be RUTHLESS**

* * *

Previously on Choices:

_No…no no no no no. __This is not good. This is not good. But Hermione couldn't bring herself to push him away. Instead, her hands moved on their own, creeping their way to grasping Draco's neck. He moaned into her mouth, whispering her name as she relaxed herself more into his grip._

_This can't be happening._

* * *

The light shone through the glass onto the tangle of sheets, and the bodies under it.

Hermione groaned softly as her eyelids fluttered awake; she suddenly felt claustrophobic. About to turn over, she noticed an arm across her stomach; a pale, muscular arm.

_No__. No. Nonono way, this can't be happening_. Her eyes grew wide with terror and realization as the events of last night hit her. _How could this happen?_ She tried not to hyperventilate in fear she might wake her "companion".

"Stupid," she muttered. "Stupid, stupid moron,"

The chant went on as she slowly and gently lifted the arm off herself and struggled to slide off the bed; successful. Now there was the challenge of locating her clothing. She found her black dress strewn carelessly across a chair and her bra lying below it in a small ball. Where were her panties?

She threw her dress over her in surprising speed and continued her search along the floor while rapidly finger-combing her hair. She couldn't believe she was actually going to do the 'walk of shame' in the morning after; well in her case, it was the 'apparation of shame'. She knelt down to search under the mess of cushions on the ground in front of the bed. _Where are those damn panties?_

"Looking for these?"

Her head spun around so quick, she was afraid she was going to lose her balance. He was still casually lying on the bed, the sheets covering him _thank God_ and he held her panties up, as if it was some kind of prize. His signature smirk was plastered on his face, holding a mocking tone to Hermione.

She tried to keep her face devoid of emotion but she could feel her cheeks grow redder as she made her way to him to snatch her panties out of his grip. She reached out to grab it, but he simply moved his arm further away from her. _So that's how it's going to be, huh?_ She was on his left, reaching over his pale body as he continued to keep the underwear out of her reach by stretching out his long right arm.

She put her knees on the edge of the bed, and once reached out once again, managing to grasp the panties while he grasped her hips and pulled her down onto the bed.

"Don't be so childish, Malfoy. Let me go!"

"So I'm being childish? Who was it that was about to sneak off without her panties just a few minutes ago?" he chuckled softly.

"It's not funny! Now let me go!"

He did and she climbed out of bed, clutching her underwear which she put on in lightning speed. She picked up her heels that were abandoned in the hallway outside his room while making her way to the front door to apparate.

She noticed something about the house though; it was small. It wasn't even a house, it was an apartment.

"No, this isn't the Manor," he said, as though reading her thoughts again. Hermione was afraid to turn around in case he hadn't put on any clothes yet. "This is an apartment I bought for times I just don't want to go back to that mansion; it's too big. Plus, I didn't think you would want to go back to the manor," he added softly.

She continued her way to the front door before stopping momentarily to ask him something that had been plaguing her mind.

"How did we get here, anyways?" she turned around to see that he'd, thankfully, put on a pair of boxers. He raised an eyebrow at her question. "The apparation point was so far away; I just remember we were in the road one second and in that room the next,"

He grinned with the hint of the young, proud Malfoy in his eyes. "I have a pass for the ministry wards,"

"You mean you can apparate or disapparate within them?" she looked at him incredulously. He simply nodded. "And you didn't think of telling me this while I was making a three mile journey home?"

"I wanted to walk with you."

Those simple words made her heart jump. She could feel her own face soften a little as he gave her a small smile. "How did you get a pass?"

He simply shrugged. She gave him a stern look; this was something he obtained using his "_ways_".

"Will you join me for breakfast?" he asked her, a little shine in his eyes.

She hesitated. "I really should be getting back," she looked down. She wasn't ready for the awkward morning after yet.

"How about lunch today, then?"

She hesitated again. _Well, it can't hurt, can it? _She simply nodded her head slightly with a smile.

"Brilliant, I'll pick you up," he flashed a smile that gave her stomach a little flip-flop and sent her heart racing.

"Bye, Malfoy," she told him as she turned away. He groaned a little before she realized her mistake. "Sorry… Draco,"

She shut the door quietly behind her, sighing, and turned on the spot to disapparate.

* * *

"Good, you're here." she heard a voice coming from the kitchen in the apartment. She froze, terror in her eyes as she recognized that voice. _What is he doing here?_ "Where have you been all morning; I've been waiting for nearly an hour." She could hear him come closer as his voice got louder. _Think fast, Hermione!_ "I just wanted to ask you i–"

He stopped at the sight of her. She could imagine what he saw; shoes in her hand, hair disheveled (more than usual), dress wrinkled, and she didn't even want to think about what her face looked like.

"Hermione?" Harry asked warily. "Have you been home since last night?"

She strode past him, trying to remain casual. "Of course I have, Harry," she told him, her voice a pitch too high.

"No, you haven't! You're wearing the same thing from last night!" He followed her._Why in the name of Merlin's beard did I connect our floo network?_ Hermione scolded herself. "Hermione, what the bloody hell happened?"

"Nothing!" she went into her room and slammed the door shut in his face, making him retreat a few steps back.

"Hermione, Don't insult my intelligence! I know when you're lying!"

"Harry," She peeked her head out the door. "Now's not really the time, okay? How about we meet for lunch?"

He looked like he was about to say something else, but decided against it. "I'll pick you up later today then?"

Then she remembered. "Wait, not today, how about tomorrow?"

He looked at her suspiciously. "Why not today?"

She tried looking straight, but her eyes wandered to a side. "I have plans,"

"With who?" he asked. He knew her too well and saw the blush in her cheeks.

_God, why could I lie to everyone during the war; it's giving me no help whatsoever now!_

"Harry, don't be so nosy," she scolded right before slipping her head back into the room and shutting the door.

"Fine then," he called out to her. "I'll just go on home to Ron, and ask if he knows an–"

_Oh, that tricky bastard!_ "No, Harry!" she left her room again.

He was standing in front, his arms crossed in power; this whole 'boy who lived' thing had gotten to his head. Before she could do anything, he took her by the wrist and pulled her into the room and sat her down on the bed.

"Talk." It was an order, not a suggestion.

"I slept with Draco." she blurted, unsure of what his reaction would be. His eyes grew wider than she'd ever seen before as his face discolored; this was not going to be swept under the rug.

"Harry?" she asked when his gaze went through her. He was in another world. "Harry?" she tried again. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again; doing this several times, he looked something close to a fish out of water.

"Harry, say something!" she pleaded. He looked at her, his face still frozen as one of shock.

"What the–" This was followed by a string of curses that made Hermione cringe terribly. _Dear Lord._

* * *

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah," she replied, slightly breathless, "sure." She shut her front door and took his arm as he apparated them somewhere. That familiar unpleasant sensation took over and she felt herself being squeezed through a tube before she landed, slightly dizzy, in a corner of the road. Hermione put her hand back down by her side and followed him as he strolled through the busy streets.

"Are you alright?" he asked her. She looked a little bit tired and upset.

She nodded with a tight smile. She was far from okay; Harry had gone into another one of his angry rants but this time, he didn't cool down. He went to the fireplace while still screaming and flooed back home. Hermione knew that he just needed some time but she could tell he was furious.

"Really? Because you don't look okay." He looked at her expectantly. She shook her head, trying to make him change the topic, but it only made him press the matter more. "Come on," he said, "can't you tell _me_?"

"You say that like it should make a difference." she chuckled softly.

"It should! I'm your…" he trailed off, grimacing. She knew what he was thinking as well; _what exactly were they?_

They walked in somewhat awkward silence for a little longer until she broke it. "Why are we walking? Can't you apparate us directly outside the restaurant?"

"My passes are not absolute exemptions." he said with a shrug. "I just don't have to walk _as_ much, but I can't apparate _everywhere_."

She nodded again; unnecessary small talk. Why did she agree to this again? No good could come of having lunch with Draco Malfoy; especially after last night. She was too vulnerable to compliments and displays of affection. She sighed. Looking up, she saw that he was looking at her, smirking.

"What?" She became defensive.

"Your facial expressions are the most intriguing spectacle to watch," he sniggered, "I'm quite curious as to know what you're thinking about."

She narrowed her eyes at him. They finally entered a restaurant, that she forgot to see the name of, and were seated in a table in less than thirty seconds, even though there was a group of people waiting in line at the front. He answered her unvoiced thought.

"I made reservations. I didn't pay my way through, don't worry."

"I wasn't accusing you of anything." she answered indifferently. It was a seat right by the window, and Hermione could already see as some reporters tried to seem casual as they snapped a few photos. She felt a little discomforted by the invasion of privacy and Draco noticed that. He plastered on his prominent smirk once again, taking joy in her uneasiness.

"Let's cut to the chase, Hermione." he suddenly seemed to get businesslike. "We can't deny what happened last night," he stated and noticed her take in a breath and? wince slightly. "No matter how much you want to.

"We also can't ignore the fact that this has been coming on for a long time–no, let me finish!" he put his hand up when he saw her opening her mouth to protest. "We've had this _tension_, for lack of a better word, that has been brewing between us and I think that it's quite a relief that we finally acted on it." Hermione felt her mouth hang; _what the hell?_ This was definitely not what she had thought lunch would come around to. She couldn't say anything even if she wanted to; she was in utter shock and unable to form coherent sentences.

Draco noted the obvious astonishment in her brown orbs and sighed. "Stop refusing the fact that we've felt something for weeks! I mean, I know you always go on and on about weasel, sorry _Ron_, and how you think that he's your guy but–"

"You never felt the need to voice your heartfelt confessions while I apparently _ranted_ about Ronald to you!" Hermione's tone was slightly hysterical.

"I never said anything about _heartfelt confessions_ so to speak," he mirrored her frenzied tone. "It's just a spark, Hermione." She heaved a sigh and leaned back on her chair, crossing her legs. The crowd outside had increased, the cameras clicking away as they watched two unlikely people at lunch together having a not so unlikely argument.

"What do you suppose we do about this, then?" she said in a low voice, looking down at her hands.

"I was thinking," he paused, assessing her reaction, "we could maybe try dating a bit, starting something _close_ to a relationship." Her eyes snapped up to meet his in an intense moment. "Unless you don't want to," Draco then added softly.

A flurry of emotions flickered across her face in a single moment. "It's not that I don't _want_ to, Draco," she assured him, "it's just…" she couldn't finish the sentence. She wasn't really sure how to explain even a fraction of the unease she experienced at his words. He put his arm across the small round table and turned it so his palm faced up. His eyes were expectant and she knew what he wanted her to do. _Take his hand, _her heart pushed her, _take it!_ But her mind blocked it out.

"Draco," She spoke softly so that he almost had to strain to hear her. Hermione glanced out to the few reporters once again who were feverishly scribbling down notes and snapping photographs. Draco's promising expression turned back to a leer.

"My, oh my," he said, a little tauntingly. "I was right before, wasn't I?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "Whatever it is you're talking about, I'm sure you weren't."

"Hermione Granger, _the_ Hermione Granger, one who battled years of tormenting and Death Eaters fearlessly, is afraid of commitment." he finished triumphantly, as if he'd figured out the world's biggest puzzle; he kind of had.

"I'm not afraid!" she snapped back, her voice a pitch higher. "It's just that there's people taking photographs outside and this will be plastered over every magazine cover by tomorrow and I don't want people to th–"

"Think you have something going on with me? Why not? That is the truth, isn't it?" he challenged her. Before she could say anything else, he interrupted again, "You'll want to do everything in private so no one would know if you suddenly decided to back out. But if the entire Wizarding world was at your neck, they'd know if you suddenly freaked and ran away. You're just leaving yourself room for the '_just in case'_." Malfoy's tone was almost entirely equivalent to his childhood days. "You don't want to take the risk, but I'm telling you to go for it."

Hermione had half a mind to get up and stalk out of the restaurant with her pride still somewhat intact. _Half a mind_, but the other half was telling her to slip her hand into his pale one still lying open and expectant on the table.

"Well," he prompted. "You have a choice to make, Ms. Granger." **(E/N: LOVE IT SOO MUCH SUSAN! Great build-up of their tension.)**


	6. Can Something So Wrong Be Right?

**Sorry it's taken sooo long, guys!! And I'm not going to bother to give some lame excuse about being busy and all that crap because I know most of you don't care anyways... HUGE thanks to my Beta raetaylor. ILOVEYOU RAE!**

**Those of you CSI NY fans or just people who are looking around for awesome fanfics, make sure you check out hers! It's called 'Surferette'.**

.net/s/4613964/1/Surferette

**So remember, READ REVIEW AND BE RUTHLESS.** **(Virtual cake for everyone that reviews)**

* * *

**Previously on Choices:**

_Hermione had half a mind to get up and stalk out of the restaurant with her pride still somewhat intact. Half a mind, but the other half was telling her to slip her hand into his pale one still lying open and expectant on the table._

"_Well," he prompted. "You have a choice to make, Ms. Granger."_

* * *

She stared at the paper for what seemed to be hours. Her face wore an expression of something between a grimace, shock, and indifference. The mug of coffee in her hands was burning her, but she didn't seem to notice or care; she simply stared and stared.

She heard a whoosh and some crackling followed by footsteps that approached her from behind. Another copy of the same paper that she was looking at was carelessly slapped across hers on the kitchen counter.

"Care to elaborate?" Harry asked her. Hermione didn't turn to face him, her eyes glued to the headlines. She watched as her hand slipped into Draco's a little gingerly, his fingers locking around it. He leaned forward towards her across the table and put his other hand on top of hers. She did the same; the image of the couple would have made anyone break into a chorus of 'oohs' and 'awws' had it not been Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. The charmed photograph started its loop again, and they both watched as her hand slipped into Draco's once more. Harry looked like he was going to be sick; he looked away from the image. The headline above was bold; '**WARHERO'S ROMANTIC BATTLE'. **It was definitely the scandalous work of Rita Skeeter.

"Hermione," Harry's tone became harsher as she still hadn't turn to look at him. "What the _hell_ are you doing? Will you tell me honestly what exactly this thing of yours with Malfoy is?" Hermione chose to ignore him once again, her face betraying no emotion whatsoever. Harry was getting a little bit worried as she looked blankly at the kitchen counter. "Hermione?"

She put her mug of coffee down on the table and winced; she finally felt the burn that the coffee had given her. Lifting up her palms, she saw that they were red and slightly black around her fingertips. Harry took her hands and looked at them, his eyes widening slightly.

"Are you mental, Hermione?" He sat her down on her couch and quickly went to her bathroom, returning with a small vial. "Why were you holding that for so long if it was burning you?" Hermione continued to stay silent and devoid of expressions. He desperately wanted to know what was going on in that head of hers; she usually had _plenty_ to say. "Okay, Hermione. You're starting to worry me."

"Harry, I want to go get my parents."

He stared at her blankly. _Okay,_ he thought. _Not exactly the kind of response I was hoping for._ "Well, then you should," he assured her. He didn't want to sound insensitive and ignore her sudden comment. "Everything is back to normal now, and they'll be perfectly safe." She nodded in agreement and headed towards the bathroom for a shower.

"Wait, Hermione!" Harry grabbed her arm, his tone somewhat close to a whine. "You didn't answer my question. You told me yesterday before you left that you were pretty sure he was asking you to lunch just to say that there wasn't anything there and then you go around snogging him–"

"I _held his hand,_ Harry."

"Oh, same thing,"

"Hardly," she scoffed.

"From the pictures though, I'm going to jump to the conclusion that you're now dating him." He looked at her and she nodded slowly. "What about Ron?" he asked more intensely. Hermione froze in his grip. "I took the paper away from the house because I thought that _you_ should be the one to tell him anything before Rita Skeeter does."

"I'll talk to him, Harry." she said softly. "I owe him at least that much. But it will break him." she added in a whisper. "Especially since it's Draco." Harry knew this too but it was Hermione's choice in the end; if she chose Draco, then he would trust her.

"So when do we go get your parents?" Harry rubbed his palms together, as if plotting something big. "And how will you track them down?"

Hermione sighed. "They're in Alice Springs; I made sure that they didn't move to the huge cities or else it would impossible to track them down. But it's not a terribly small town either, so it will take some time. We only know their names, though, because I didn't leave anything with them to help me find them just as a necessary precaution." This was probably going to be a difficult hunt but she was determined she would be able to do it. "I'll go to the ministry today and arrange for a portkey to Alice Springs and from there, we'll have to use the muggle agencies and phonebooks to find them."

Harry nodded; it did sound a bit tiresome to have to do this manually, but he would do it for his best friend. She walked into her bathroom; it was already 12 o'clock and she was still in her pajamas. Harry sat on her kitchen stool and took a sip from the mug of coffee Hermione had left on the table. He watched on the paper, through the restaurant glass, as Hermione slipped her hand into Draco's once more.

"Get a room," he mumbled disgustedly to the paper and flipped it over.

* * *

Hermione felt the hot water unlock her tensed muscles and relax her mind. But she couldn't help but feel just the slightest bit terrified at what had happened yesterday.

_She stared at his hand intensely, as if expecting it to explode in any second. Hermione glanced back at his face; one side of his mouth was curved upwards._

"_You know it's only a matter of time, Hermione." He shrugged casually._

"_And what makes you so sure of that?"_

_Draco suddenly leaned forward a fraction and looked deep into her eyes. "You kissed two people last night," he said in a low voice, "but you ended up in bed with one of them. What does that tell you?"_

_She gaped at him as he settled back into his chair, the palm nearly flashing in front of her. Draco looked completely at ease while Hermione could have passed off as being seasick. _

The sound of the shower steadily spraying water was comforting as she ran her hands through her hair. She rubbed the soap onto her skin, scrubbing off every bit of distress as she liked to think of it.

_Their hands were on top of each others, and Hermione felt the cameras clicking away feverishly. Draco smiled a bit sneakily._

"_That was a good choice, Ms. Granger" he gave her a smirk while raising his eyebrow._

_His words made her shiver a little but she smiled nevertheless. A month ago if anyone had told her that she would be sitting in a restaurant, holding hands with Draco Malfoy, she would have doubled over with laughter and sent them for a check-up in St. Mungo's. _

"_What are you thinking?" he asked her._

"_About how weird this actually is. After seven years of name-calling and hexing each other, we're sitting here and having a civil conversation." She smiled a bit disbelievingly._

"_I must remind you, Hermione, we've done a lot more than have civil conversations." he smirked. She smacked his hand lightly. "So does this technically count as our first date?"_

"_Hmm," she pretended to ponder. "I guess it does, doesn't it?" Draco's face broke into a smile that was almost blinding; it put the cameras outside to shame. Hermione wondered where this Draco had been there through the torturous years of Hogwarts. He laughed a little bit and said something to her that she didn't hear, because suddenly, her mind was a thousand miles away._

_She was friends with Draco Malfoy. She slept with Draco Malfoy. She was now dating Draco Malfoy. Maybe he was right; maybe she was afraid of how fast this had gone. Over the course of one month, they had gone from friends to this (she didn't quite want to call him her boyfriend yet). He was still talking and she tried to tune in again but kept feeling something uncomfortable in the pit of her stomach. Something was telling her to get up and bolt in the opposite direction. _

"–_I think we should help him out, don't you?"_

"_Hmm?" Hermione was thrown off as he asked her a question that she didn't know the answer to._

"_We should help Blaise get Luna right? He's so obviously into her!" Hermione smiled and agreed. Blaise claimed that she was just a few good shags, but she could see that glimmer in his eyes every time he saw her. Luna said that she didn't really care for him either, but they all knew that she did._

"_Those are two stubborn people in denial," Hermione told him. He smirked. "What?" she asked him._

"_Funny, you just described yourself." Hermione gave him the best sarcastic look she was capable of. But he was right; that was probably why she felt the need to run every time she saw Draco._

"Hermione!" Harry pounded on the door a few times. "Hurry up; we're going to be late for lunch!"

"Okay, did you make reservations?" she called back to him as she shut of the water.

"Yes, and we have to be there in 20 minutes."

"Alright, I'll be right out." she wrapped the towel around herself and sighed. The shower was supposed to be relaxing but it had just left her feeling more nervous.

* * *

"Finally tapped that, huh?"

"Sod off, Zabini."

"It's plastered all over the newspapers; did you expect me to simply skim over that kind of a headline?" Blaise sat down next to his friend who was trying, and failing, to have a peaceful breakfast. "So what did you say that got her into your pants?" Blaise picked up the half-eaten toast from Draco's plate.

Draco snatched back his toast and took a large bite. "What exactly did the newspaper say, anyways? I don't recall anything about 'tapping' anything."

"I was just guessing," Blaise shrugged. "I asked, you got defensive and told me to shove it, so I knew that meant you had." He flashed a fake million dollar smile at Draco who simply took another bite out of his toast. "I've got to say, this came on really fast."

"Oh, so you and Lovegood are just going at _snail's_ pace, aren't you?" Draco retorted. Blaise immediately recoiled a little.

"That's completely different." Blaise looked away. "Luna and I are not doing anything."

"So you _don't_ take a long detour past the quibbler office coming home from work–" There was a smack on Draco's head, but he continued. "–at six instead of the normal time five because–" Smack. "–you know she walks home _precisely_ then?" Draco neatly dodged the plate that Blaise chucked at him and repaired it with a lazy flick of his wand. "You know, you're right, Zabini." Draco changed his tone to one of seriousness. "You and Lovegood _aren't _doing anything; it's just _you_ who's obsessed with _her_." He went back to his teasing manner which bothered Blaise to no end.

"Are you finished?" Blaise asked, irritated.

"Unfortunately," Draco nodded at him. "So watch it, before you make fun of my relationship because mine is actually _existent_."

Blaise simply stared at him for a long moment, his eyes slightly narrowed. Then, he quickly spun around and made his way to the fireplace without a word.

"You know," Draco called to him. "We could go on a double date."

Blaise froze with his hands in the floo powder. Draco could see the desire in Blaise's stance, even with his back turned.

"You, me, Hermione and Lovegood," Draco emphasized. "We could watch one of those muggle movies that all women love." Blaise was still turned away from Draco, hesitant. Draco sighed; he didn't think Blaise understood (either that, or he was in shock), "A double _date_, Zabini."

Blaise unclenched his fingers from the floo powder and made his way back to Draco.

"Tell me more about this _dating_ business."

* * *

"Ron?" she called out to him. The hallway was dark and forlorn and it seemed as though no one had stepped in it for days. _Why wasn't anyone brightening up this place?_ But Hermione guessed that her perspective of the area was possibly related to her mood; anxious, dreading, _scared._

"Hey, Hermione!" a cheerful voice greeted her from behind. She spun around to see her favorite redhead making his way to hug her. He wrapped his arms around her eagerly and she tried to hug him back with just as much enthusiasm but it didn't quite come off like that. "Is everything alright?" Ron pulled back and looked into her eyes with concern. Hermione tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it came out more as a grimace.

"Let's sit down," she said as she took him by his hand to the sitting area, "we need to talk."

He followed her and sat down, not letting go of her hand. "Why do I feel like this isn't going to be an 'I love you, let's get married and have babies' kind of conversation?" He gave a nervous chuckle and tried to joke; Hermione's seriousness was starting to freak him out a little bit.

"Ron," she began slowly. She took her time trying to form words that she had been practicing for the past half hour; nothing seem to come out of her mouth right then. But her silence was enough for him to understand the gist. She could pretty much see his face fall. "I don't really know how to tell you this but–"

"You don't want to get back together." he finished her sentence, his voice low. He was looking down at the floorboards now. Hermione couldn't look him in the eye either and she looked down at her fidgety hands folded in her lap. "Okay," His voice was still soft. "I understand; I took a little too long." he nodded. Hermione's courage began to crumble. _No, _she told herself. _I have to tell him myself, or he'll feel even worse when he finds out through the papers._

Ron couldn't really believe what was happening; it seemed surreal to him. The Ron-and-Hermione item had always seemed like such a definite. Everyone was so sure that it would end up being Hermione Weasley and they'd see little curly red-head Gryffindor know-it-alls running around.

"Ron, it wasn't exactly about how long it took." Hermione whispered.

"Well, what was it? Did you find someone else?" he asked a little disbelievingly, almost as if the idea was impossible. Hermione tried not to take that tone too personally as she reached inside her coat and pulled out the newspaper that Harry had taken away from Ron this morning. She handed it to him and looked away, not wanting to see his reaction. What she didn't expect though, was to hear the paper slap the table roughly and footsteps headed away from her. _There was no screaming? No protests and death threats?_ _He just walked away?_

"Ron!" She went after him and heard the door slam. Reaching his room, she knocked on the door several times. "Ron, please open the door." She knew she could have simply blasted it open with her wand, but something told her that would merely aggravate him more. "Let's just talk about this, okay?"

"Talk?" he yelled as he threw the door open. "You want to talk? Let's talk!" Ron stepped into the hallway, his face nearing the redness of his hair. His eyes looked wild and hysterical. Hermione felt herself take a few steps backward. "Let's talk about how you dump _me_ for _Malfoy_! Let's talk about how you felt the need to tell the paparazzi and reporters before _me_! Let's talk about the fact that he's _Draco Malfoy!_" The empty house rang with Ron's shouts.

"Ron, I–"

"You're choosing him over me? I've been by your side for seven years and he's been _fighting _you for those seven!"

"But–"

"I can't believe you, Hermione! What are you after, his money?"

The sound of Hermione's slap echoed through the halls. "I understand that you're angry," she spoke through clenched teeth. "But that does not give you the right to accuse me of being a _gold-digging tramp_!"

Ron was silent. He seemed to look a little regretful and Hermione felt so too; maybe she didn't need to slap him.

"I'm sorry, Ron." Her voice softened. "I'm sorry that it had to be this way but I can't help who I fall for." Hermione looked at him as he continued to look at the floor.

"I can't say I'm thrilled; it'll take me some time to get used to it." Ron shrugged. "But I'll try not to hex him into the next century if I see him."

Hermione frowned. _Well,_ she thought. _About the best I can hope for, I guess._ She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, tiptoeing to get closer to his towering head. He didn't return the hug though, his arm stayed by his side and his body was stiff. _Just give him some time, Hermione._

* * *

_One week later_

Harry and Hermione stood, staring intensely at the worn out toothbrush. Hermione took a deep breath and looked at her watch again.

"Just about three minutes." she informed Harry who nodded at this information and comfortingly squeezed her shoulder. There was a whoosh from the fireplace and they both turned around.

"Sorry I'm late," Ron jogged breathlessly to Hermione's left. "Are you ready? How much time do we have left?"

Hermione glanced at her watch for the second time. "Two minutes." There was another familiar noise from the fireplace that was engulfed with green flames as Draco stepped through.

"Wow, just in time for a little field trip!" His taunting voice caused Ron to scowl.

"Draco, what are you doing here?" Hermione was sure she hadn't told him about this. She turned to look at Harry who was staring at the ceiling intently. "Harry!"

"I'm sorry! He asked what your plans for today were and I didn't think I'd have to lie to him! It's not a _major_ secret or anything!" Harry's voice became higher as he got defensive.

"Don't blame him, sweetheart. I would have been furious later if I hadn't come on this trip with you anyways, so technically he did you a favor." Draco walked over to her and snaked his arm around her waist. He kissed her temple and looked at his watch. "I suggest we all prepare now." The four of them reached out and touched the old toothbrush. Hermione was glancing warily between Ron and Draco whom she was standing in between; Draco's expression was indifferent while Ron seemed to be debating whether or not to duel him right then and there. Draco leaned down and breathed in her ear, "Don't worry."

She let out a heavy breath. "Next stop, Alice Springs.

E/N: Sorry Susan, it took me forever to edit this but there wasn't much wrong with it! In fact it was a brilliant chapter just a few grammatical errors here and there :) Anyways ily and can't wait for another! –Rae (your brilliant forgetful editor)


	7. Alice Springs

**Chapter 7 is up!! Huge thanks to my editor again (who is awesome by the way) I STILL LOVE YOU RAE**

**CSI NY fans or people just looking for a good fanfic, check out hers! .net/s/4613964/1/Surferette**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything... unfortunately. But JK Rowling has yet to reply to my letter requesting the ownership of all seven books ;)**

**So RATE REVIEW and be RUTHLESS - Please actually do review, it hurts a little when no one does... D:**

**

* * *

****Previously on Choices:**

"_You, me, Hermione and Lovegood," Draco emphasized… "A double date, Zabini."_

…

"_Let's talk about how you dump me for Malfoy! Let's talk about how you felt the need to tell the paparazzi and reporters before me! Let's talk about the fact that he's Draco Malfoy!" The empty house rang with Ron's shouts._

…

_Hermione let out a heavy breath. "Next stop; Alice Springs._

* * *

Blaise stood in a corner next to his usual bush, watching the entrance of the office. The giant colorful letters on top waltzed as night drew in. _She's late. Why is she so late today?_ Everyone had already left the building one by one except for her. It was already seven thirty.

"She must have left already," he mumbled to himself dejectedly. With his hands in his pocket, he walked past the dancing 'QUIBBLER' that lit the darkness.

"Blaise," he heard a voice call from behind. His face broke into a smile as he whirled around.

"Luna," he greeted her. She smiled serenely and took out her wand. With a flick, she stopped the letters dancing and the office immediately looked dark and empty.

"I didn't think I'd see you today; I had to work late." She said, her eyes looking a bit weary.

"Yeah," Blaise nodded. "I had to work late too. You look tired, Luna. Did you have a long day at work?"

Luna launched into her tedious case about crumple-horned snorkacks, wrackspurts and nargles. She spoke about the creatures so passionately, Blaise couldn't help but smile.

"People _still_ refuse to believe they're real! They just need a little faith," she sighed. She shivered ever so slightly and Blaise wrapped his arm around her cold shoulders. "Thanks," she whispered.

Silence passed between them as she relaxed into his arms. The moment felt so perfect and natural; they fit each other like two puzzle pieces locked together.

"So, Luna," Blaise started, "I've been thinking and I feel that this can go a lot further." He began vaguely. He sensed her confusion next to him and felt the need to elaborate. "This has been quite pleasant so far with our daily walks. And our occasional bedroom visits have been– I must say– quite exquisite." Blaise smirked ever so slightly. "But I just think that maybe, we can do better."

Luna stopped in her tracks, and in effect Blaise did too. She pulled away from his arm around her shoulder and turned to face him. Her expression was a mix of incredulity and skepticism. Blaise immediately felt his heartbeat quicken and his palms broke out in a cold sweat. _Maybe I went about this in the wrong way, _he thought, beginning to panic.

"Are you asking me out?"

"No! Well, yes. Well, not unless you don't want to. I mean you don't have to–it's your choice. I – I want to if you want to. B–b–but–" Blaise stuttered. "I–I just thought that maybe… We could just–"

"I would love to."

Blaise closed his mouth at the interruption. It took a few moments for him to process her words. _She said yes! _He practically danced around inside while he struggled to remain unmoved on the outside. "Well," he shrugged. "That's cool." He saw her roll her eyes and continued his confidence act. "I knew you'd say yes." Blaise boasted teasingly. "No one can say no to a Zabini."

Luna nodded. "It was mainly to shut you up though." She said matter-of-factly. "You're quite adorable when you get nervous. You start to stutter, your palms sweat, and you have this little twitch in your right eye."

"I wasn't nervous!" he claimed and slapped her shoulder lightly before putting his arm back around it. They both chuckled as they walked into the cool night air.

* * *

Their feet thudded all at once as they reached their destination. Hermione's knees buckled under her as her feet hit the ground and if it weren't for Draco's quick arms, she would have landed on all fours. He supported her entire weight as she regained balance; an act that didn't go unnoticed by Ron.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned. Hermione simply nodded and looked around. They were outdoors and the heat was scorching yet surprisingly pleasant. After staying in the UK for so long, the sun was quite welcoming.

"Welcome to Alice Springs!" a pleasant voice greeted them. They turned to the direction it was coming from and a smiling woman was walking towards them. She had on a gray pantsuit and was wearing a headset. "My name is Katherine and I'm the head of Wizarding travels to the Northern territory, Australia." The woman said. She leaned forward and shook each of their hands.

"It really is quite an honor to meet you Mr. Potter." She said admiringly. He smiled sincerely and she turned to Ron and Hermione. "I know we owe a lot to the three of you and I can't thank you enough." Beaming, she led them towards a small building, chatting non-stop.

"I must mention however, I didn't quite believe that 'chosen one' nonsense in the beginning either." She laughed nervously. "But I came around as many others did." Katherine then turned to look at Draco. Her eyes were exploratory as she eyed him from head to toe. "Can't say I know you though, love."

"Draco Malfoy," Draco politely introduced himself.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, your name rings bells, but I can't quite place it. Anyhow," she continued on and on, the sound of her voice becoming a distant hum.

They walked in and the cool air immediately washed over their skin. The four of them followed behind the woman, walking through the bustling building, to a room.

"I didn't know we were going to have a welcoming committee," Harry whispered to Hermione while Katherine continued to say something. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Harry, this is general knowledge of Wizarding travels." she whispered back. "It's like how muggles have to go through customs and immigrations. I admit this way is a lot easier though."

"So that woman; is she a wi–"

"She's actually most likely a squib who still wanted to be part of the Wizarding world." Hermione interrupted his question. She suddenly felt a pressure in her right hand; Draco had squeezed it subconsciously. Hermione let go of the hand she hadn't even realized she been holding and folder her arms over her chest instead. Draco looked at her questioningly but she simply glanced over to the redhead next to Harry whose eyes followed everything like a hawk.

Draco sighed. _Maybe if weasel keeps glaring in this direction, he'll eventually walk into a wall._ He grinned to himself.

"Have a seat," Katherine pointed to the four chairs in front of her desk. "Now I just need to go through a little paperwork before I let you all loose." she looked pointedly at Draco and winked. Hermione looked down and squeezed her lips together, trying hard not to laugh; Harry was doing the same. Draco however, frowned a little and looked to the corner, deeply disturbed.

"Let's get to it, then." Hermione cleared the tension a little with a shaky voice, still struggling to hold her giggles. She knew Draco would give her the worst later.

"Well," the woman's hand disappeared behind the desk and came out holding a stack. "You all need to fill out a character evaluation form and there are the standard travel documents." She passed them each a few sheets of paper and pens, pausing when she handed Draco his. "I'm sorry we don't have quills; we try to keep this place as muggle as possible." She looked at him apologetically, ignoring the rest who were struggling to keep their chuckles under control. Draco simply tried to smile sincerely. "I'm sure you understand Mr. Potter!" she laughed teasingly and her eyes were suggestive as she glanced at Harry. Harry's silent laughter died in his throat as he too, shifted uncomfortable in his seat.

"Furthermore, I need to instruct you about the security procedures. I trust you're all aware of the regulations regarding highly muggle populated areas and the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy?" They all nodded. "Well there's not much else except to be careful with that; we have had slip-ups in the past." Her appealing laughter rang in the room like bells as she kept her eyes alternating between Harry and Draco.

"Here's the customary package; there are pamphlets and a map with the apparition points. Here is your document regarding all the necessary portkeys for the next five days and all its details and locations." Hermione took the paper from her and slipped it into her bag along with the booklets and map. "And that is all I have for you! Forgive me, I must kick you out; I have another arrival in Tennant Creek for which I need to leave immediately. You may go out into the hall to fill out your forms and hand them to the receptionist at the front desk." She picked up her clipboard and scurried out her door but not before turning around once more and staring at Draco and then Harry; her eyes darted back and forth between them. "Don't hesitate to call me if you need _anything_."

Draco and Harry's eyes' widened momentarily with an awkward smile, their noses scrunching up together.

"Charming woman," Ron said as he shook with his chortles after Katherine had turned the corner. Hermione couldn't help it anymore and let out a snort.

"Shut up," Harry smacked both their arms lightly. "You're just jealous because she didn't give _you_ any attention." He said to Ron who seemed to suddenly grasp that fact. He became silent and looked down to his form.

"You know, you're not supposed to laugh when things like that happen; you're supposed to get overly envious and protective." Draco stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Hermione gave him a sarcastic look. "Yeah, next time that happens, I'll be sure to slam my hands on the table in outrage, give her a nice punch and then snog you senseless."

"That's more like it." he smiled, ignoring her sarcasm. "We're here _five days?_ I didn't bring anything with me."

"As you can see, genius, the rest of us aren't really burdened with luggage either. That's why we have so many portkeys; we're going home at the end of the day and coming back in the morning. We might not use all five days' portkeys, but they're there just in case we need them."

Draco shook his head, laughing. "You have a plan for everything, don't you? What happens if something goes wrong with the portkeys?" Draco taunted.

Hermione played along; it wasn't too hard as she'd already thought this out before the trip. "I have notified Kingsley at the ministry that if we need it, I'll ask him to connect the floo network at the ministry to the one here."

Draco smirked, impressed. "And what if _that _doesn't work?" he teased.

"I don't see why the floo network should suddenly stop working,"

"Kingsley dies, all the Floo powder evaporates, all the fireplaces in the world spontaneously combust; I don't care, but _what if?_" Hermione looked down pointedly at her messy scrawl.

"Oh my god," Draco looked at her incredulously. "You've thought it out _that_ much? You've got a back-up plan for your back-up plan!"

"I just took out my muggle savings in case we need it!" Hermione protested.

"Why are you _so_ paranoid? Do you think the whole world is out to ruin your life, or something?" Draco chuckled. "You need to stop being so uptight."

"It never hurt to be _too_ careful." Hermione mumbled. Draco dropped the topic and they filled out the rest of the papers in silence.

They finished filling out the paperwork and handed it to the receptionist who looked annoyed when they interrupted her "very important" phone call.

"So where are we going now?" Ron asked Hermione as she pulled out her map. They followed Hermione out to a corner; the apparition point. Draco held her right hand and Ron took her left just as she was about to tell them to take her arm. Hermione glanced at the both of them warily as Harry smirked a little and held her right arm; she turned on the spot.

* * *

Ron let go of her hand just as they landed and Draco kept his grasp of her right. He looked at her expectantly, his eyes questioning their next move. She answered his unasked queries.

"We need to go to some sort of guide agency. From there we could possibly get a phonebook or something to look for them." As the words came out of her mouth, Hermione felt more and more uncertain of ever finding her parents. The plan, or lack-there-of, was seemingly impossible; it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The heat blazed their skin and Hermione suddenly felt overdressed. As everyone around them walked in spaghetti straps and short shorts, she was wearing full jeans with a cardigan. She slipped it off, leaving on only the thin t-shirt underneath. Draco was wearing his full-sleeved black shirt yet he looked entirely at ease, as if this was a normal chilly day in London.

"Bet you wish you didn't dress like you were from the Matrix right now," Hermione leaned into his left shoulder.

"The _what_?" he looked at her, confused.

"Never mind," She shook her head, remembering, "Muggle reference." He gave her a slight smile and went back to looking as though he'd walked out of a refreshing shower. She pushed the thought away and focused on the task at hand. _This isn't a school exam, Hermione,_ she told herself.

"Over there!" Harry pointed to a small sign in the distance which said **GUIDE TO ALICE SPRINGS. **Hermione felt a flicker of hope as she made her way to the small room.

As she made her way to the counter with Draco to ask for a phonebook, Ron and Harry waited where the couches were. Ron picked up a fat book that was lying in front of him and began subconsciously flipping through; the pages were all yellow.

"Are you checking the yellow pages for listings on dentists? Ron, that was clever!" Hermione said excitedly to him as she sat down by his side with a book nearly as fat as the one he was holding.

"Yeah," he mumbled, trying to look confident. "Dentist listings," _What in Merlin's name are yellow pages?_ "What are their names, again?"

"Wendell and Monica Wilkins," she muttered absentmindedly to him as she remained engrossed in the giant phonebook. "Wilkins, Wilkins, Wilkins," her finger ran down the page.

"The names aren't there, what does that mean?" Draco looked at her concernedly.

"It just means that they don't live in this area of Alice Springs." she snapped the book shut and stood up. "Any luck with the listings, Ron?"

Ron looked utterly bemused. He just shook his head vigorously and put down the massive volume. "Let's go elsewhere, then." They made their way out of the room. Hermione felt tired as she thought about how many more areas they would have to visit before they found them. _This is going to be a long search._

* * *

It had been three days, and the four of them had hit every area of Alice Springs, but there was still no luck.

"How would their names not be in _any_ phonebook? That's not possible!" Hermione sat at the restaurant with the rest of them who gave her pitying looks.

"Did they move out?" Harry suggested. "Out of Alice Springs, I mean. Maybe they went to another city."

"They couldn't have; I modified their memories specifically to come _only_ here so there would be a possibility of tracking them down!"

No one could answer to that; they didn't doubt Hermione's precision and accuracy when it came to her spell work. Draco had a tentative feeling in the pit of his stomach; he couldn't quite place it, but something just didn't seem right about the situation.

"This was supposed to be easier; I moved them to a smaller place for a reason!" she whined. "We'll go check the clinics after this to look for Dentists who maybe know them." Hermione said tiredly. She rested her head in her hands and Ron squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. It was a rushed lunch as Hermione became more and more anxious about getting to the clinics.

By four o'clock, they had visited 3 clinics with no luck. It took a long time in each clinic; Muggles really were quite unhelpful. She felt like crying with exasperation, but resorted to yelling out and then leaning on Draco's shoulder as he put his arm around her and held her.

Harry looked at his watch. "We still have time to hit one more clinic before we head home." he suggested to Hermione, hoping to get some optimism back in her. She shook her head.

"Let's just walk around and relax a little. We've been running around for the past three days." They agreed with her and they took a turn into a quiet neighborhood. The sun was just setting and the sky was a beautiful golden color. Draco and Hermione intertwined their fingers as if they had been doing it for years; the warmth of his hand comforted her. They had slowed down and now walked a few meters behind Ron and Harry.

"Don't worry," he whispered to her. "We'll find them." She nodded still looking straight ahead. Hermione watched a woman dote over her child who was playing in her front yard. The woman looked up and caught Hermione staring. She watched Hermione with interest, a curious look on her face before she began to make her way towards the street where the couple was walking, slightly warily. They both stopped in their tracks, unsure of what to do; it seemed as though the woman had recognized Hermione.

"Oh," The lady took a step back. "I'm sorry. From afar, you look _so _much like someone I knew." The woman had a slightly nasal voice, but it was still pleasant. "Tricks of the light, I suppose."

Hermione smiled at her. "That's quite alright."

The woman was still looking at Hermione, inquisitively. She stretched out her arm, "I'm Maureen." Hermione noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that Harry and Ron had turned around and were making their way back to her, their hands deep in their pockets.

"I'm Hermione; it's nice to meet you." Hermione politely greeted her back. "And this is Draco." Draco shook hands with Maureen as well. "Is it a good friend of yours that I look like?" Hermione tried to make conversation with Maureen who was still observing her awkwardly.

"A _great _person she was." Maureen smiled reminiscently. There was a slight sadness in her eyes though. "Her name was Monica; Monica Wilkins, from," she trailed off as she pointed across from her. "That house over there. Lived with her husband Wendell," she continued but Hermione hadn't heard anything else. She snatched her hand out of Draco's and sprinted across the street to the cozy house that Maureen had pointed to.

Harry and Ron sensed the tension and ran back, asking Draco what had happened.

"Stop her from ringing the doorbell," Draco told them softly. "Go, stop her now!" But Hermione was already at the door, panting, and pressing the doorbell several times.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked Draco, urgently. He ignored the question, his eyes fixed on the excited girl in front of the door.

The door opened, revealing a tall, lanky man. Hermione's face fell as she saw the man that was not her father. "I-I'm sorry, I–" she choked on her own words. "I just thought–" Hermione took a step back from the door and turned around, staring at the pavement as she made her way back onto the street where Ron and Draco stood.

"Hermione," Draco jogged to her. He tried to take her hand, but she didn't let him. It looked like she was slowly piecing everything together in her head and Draco really wished she wouldn't.

"I don't understand," she finally spoke, her voice low and throaty. "She said –Maureen said that–" Hermione tried to remember what it was that she had said.

"_A great person she was. …Her name was Monica; Monica Wilkins …Lived with her husband Wendell," The slight sadness in her eyes._

"_A great person she was," Was._

"No," she whispered. She felt that someone had wrapped a big tube around her that was crushing her, constricting her air. "No. No. Nonono. NO!" she began to yell. "NO! I DID _EVERYTHING!_" she sobbed heavily. "I DID _EVERYTHING_ AND THEY STILL GOT TO THEM!" Hermione felt her legs give way and her knees hit the ground right before she blacked out.


	8. Will This Ever Get Easier?

**CHAPTER 8!!! I feel like this chapter's not as interesting... but bear with me! Huge thanks to RAE who worked really hard to make this sound cool (it honestly required a lot of work...) I LOVE YOU RRRRRAAAAEEEE**

**So Read Review and be Ruthless!! (Please do review... Virtual hugs for all those who do :D)**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, don't own a thing, no matter how many letters I write to JK Rowling...**

***************  
**

**Previously on Choices:**

"_Are you asking me out?" Luna asked._

_Blaise stuttered. "No! Well, yes. Well, not unless you don't want to. I mean you don't have to–it's your choice. I – I want to if you want to. B–b–but–" _

"_I would love to."_

…

"_A great person she was. …Her name was Monica; Monica Wilkins …Lived with her husband Wendell," The slight sadness in her eyes._

…

"_NO! I DID EVERYTHING!" she sobbed heavily. "I DID EVERYTHING AND THEY STILL GOT TO THEM!" Hermione felt her legs give way and her knees hit the ground right before she blacked out._

* * *

The carousel played an eerie tune as it rotated lowly. The horses bounced up and down with no riders. A haunting glow emanated from all around as she watched the carousel turn.

"Hermione," She heard a call.

"Mum!" she called back. She tried to follow the direction of the voice and caught sight of her mum's flowery Sunday dress disappearing behind what seemed to be a carriage. _Where am I? _She thought. A giant Ferris wheel appeared out of thin air when she turned, radiating the same ghostly glow.

The place suddenly filled with life; children laughed as they stumbled about, reaching up to the cotton candy booth. Parents held their toddlers on their lap as they squealed with joy on the carriages. The noises began overlapping each other; the chaos was loud but not unpleasant. Hermione twirled around slowly, taking in the familiar surroundings; it was the theme park she had come so often to as a child with her parents.

"Hermione," this time the call was a deep voice.

"Dad!" she yelled out above the noise, searching for him. She saw him disappear right where her mum had. "Dad, wait!" She ran towards the carriage and turned the corner.

"Mum, Dad!" she called after them, seeing them. They turned around, smiling warmly. All the noise dimmed out and they became the only ones there. Hermione began to run towards them. Suddenly, their smiles disappeared and their eyes mutinously glared.

"It was you," they accused.

"What?" she whispered in shock. A bright light flashed in front of her eyes. Squinting, Hermione tried to find her parents but all she saw was the light. An image of their bodies, tossed on the ground, mangled and bloody was thrown at her. "No," she shook her head, tears escaping.

"You did this to us!" Their thunderous voices echoed in her ears. The limp corpses of her parents stared at her with lifeless eyes as their words boomed all around her.

"No," Her voice trembled as she sobbed. She took a step back trying to shut out the horrid picture. "No!" They were back, facing her. Their eyes remained merciless as they glowered.

"Your fault," they looked daggers at her. "It was all your fault."

"No!" She jerked awake, shaking. She was drenched in sweat and panting as she gripped the tangled sheets around her, trying to calm herself. The sound of her breathing echoed in the silent room. _Your fault,_ their voices rang in her head. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus on other things. First of all, Hermione couldn't even remember how she'd gotten back in her room or changed into her pajamas.

She dragged herself out of the comfort of the twisted sheets and forced herself to stand, only to realize the bathroom was across the hall. She turned the doorknob ever so slowly and it opened without a click. There was no noise, but she heard movement in the open kitchen. _They probably won't notice if I'm quiet enough._

As she closed the bathroom door behind her, she heard a voice.

"Hermione," Ron had spotted her. She sighed as she heard several footsteps coming towards her. She popped her head out of the door and spoke quickly.

"I'll be right there." Her clipped tone made it certain that she was in no mood for pity hugs and shoulder pats. They were all there; Harry, Ron, Ginny and Draco.

When she got out, she caught a whiff of pancakes from her kitchen. Harry was making them while Ginny stared, amazed. It did smell rather delicious, but Hermione was in no frame of mind to eat. She went and sat on her kitchen stool, her back leaned against the wall next to the counter. Everyone seemed to be unsure of how to approach her and the awkwardness was nearly suffocating.

"Someone say something," Hermione said with her eyes closed, "anything."

Ginny cleared her throat. "Well, do you want some breakfast? Harry makes some wicked pancakes." A plate was brought in front of her. It smelt even better up close, but her stomach was still making flips. Hermione pushed the plate away gently.

"Thanks, but I really can't eat." She said politely. More silence. "Well no reason why the rest of you can't dig in." Hermione looked around to all their faces. They all nodded and there was a chorus of 'yeah' and 'sure' as they made their way to the kitchen counter. Draco came and stood next to her, put an arm around her shoulder and leaned against the wall too. "Aren't you going to eat?" Hermione asked him.

"I'd rather not consume anything Potter made." Draco smiled at her. Harry glared at him and Ron chuckled. Ginny managed a small smile too; all the emotions flickered across their faces for a split second, tense and forced before they fell back to an awkward and suffocating silence.

Hermione stood up. "I'm going back to bed." No one knew what to say as she made her way back. The blankets looked like heaven and she began to crawl under them and turn on her side. There was a knock on her door and a click as it opened.

Before she had the energy to lift her head, Harry was by her side.

"Harry," she turned away from him. "Not now, please." But he still didn't go anywhere. He opened the curtains behind the bed letting in the sunshine that made Hermione groan and pull the blanket over her head. "What time is it?" Her muffled voice came from underneath.

"Ten thirty." Harry told her. _Wow_, she thought. _I slept a lot_. "It might not seem like what you want to do, but just listen to me and sit up." He pulled her up by the shoulders so she was sitting much against her will. "Go take a shower, brush your hair and put some fresh clothes on; you'll feel much better."

"Harry–"

"Look," he interrupted. "I know it's the last thing you want to do right now but just trust me." He literally dragged her out of the bed and pushed her across the hall to the bathroom. "Ginny will pick out some clothes for you." He smiled at her one last time as she stood bewildered in the bathroom. "You'll thank me later." He shut the door.

Walking back to where the other three stood, Harry gave a nod. "We're at a start."

There was knock on the front door. Draco made his way to the peephole to see who it was. _Blaise? What in Merlin's name is he doing here?_ He opened the door.

"Thought I'd find you here," Blaise said the moment he the door opened. He shoved past Draco while still talking. "Your one true love has arrived with excellent news!" Blaise made dramatic arm movements while turning back to Draco. Just then, he seemed to notice the rest of the company around him who were staring, confused.

"Well it's a pleasure to see you all too." He nodded to the rest. "Funny how everyone except whose apartment this is seems to be here." They all look down pointedly and Draco went over to lean on the kitchen counter. "What's the matter? Why do you all look like you're at a funeral?"

Draco looked up tiredly. "It's Hermione," he sighed, "her–"

He was interrupted by a blood-curdling scream that echoed through the apartment. It was coming from the bathroom. Blaise's eyes widened in fright, Harry lifted himself of the couch with immeasurable speed and Ron jumped off the kitchen stool in panic. Draco had pushed himself off the counter and the three of them were making their way to the bathroom when Ron put his arm in front of Draco.

"She's in the _bathroom!_"

"Trust me, Weasley," Draco pushed past the arm. "I've seen a lot more than you have."

"Both of you stay, I'll go!" Harry's voice rang.

"STOP!" Ginny had somehow squeezed herself between the three arguing men and stood facing them. "_I'll_ go. You lot, go back and sit down."

"But Gin–"

"I said sit down!" Harry, Ron and Draco jumped and scurried backward, away from the fuming redhead.

Blaise was still staring at all three with a mixture of shock and confusion. His eyes asked the obvious question. Draco sighed.

"Sit down, and I'll explain."

* * *

"Boys_,_" Ginny mumbled softly, rolling her eyes. She could hear the shower still running as she opened the bathroom door nearly soundlessly; as if afraid she might disturb Hermione. The sight in front of her broke her heart.

Hermione had pulled her knees up to her chest and was hugging them tightly with one arm. Her right hand was on top of her knee and she seemed to be biting down on it. Eyes wide and flooded with shock and fear, her gaze didn't waver as Ginny stepped in front of her and reached to shut the shower off. She continued to stare ahead, unblinking.

She was snapped out of her trance when she felt a towel on her. Ginny wrapped her and struggled to lift her up but Hermione wouldn't budge; it felt safer in the corner.

"Alright," Ginny mumbled. She sat down next to Hermione, getting soaked. Hermione began to mutter something.

"I thought," she whispered. "I saw–over there, I-I saw–" Her eyes kept wandering back to the same empty spot on the bathroom wall.

"Shh," Ginny stroked her damp hair comfortingly. "It's okay. It's okay." She felt Hermione shake with her tearless sobs; she had already cried herself dry. "Sweetie, what do you say we get up and get dry?"

Hermione shook her head and pulled the towel tighter around her crouched body. The softness and warmth was soothing.

"Okay, okay." Ginny consoled her as she let Hermione's head rest on her shoulder. "Just close your eyes." It was silent except for Hermione's shaky breaths and shudders. A little while later, Ginny was sure that she had fallen asleep as her breathing became even. Now there was the task of getting her to bed.

"Malfoy?" she called softly, hoping that he would hear. When there was no answer, she tried calling a little louder. "Malfoy?"

"Yes?" Footsteps followed, and got louder as he neared the bathroom. "What's wrong?"

"Can you help me carry her to the bed?" Draco nodded and Ginny carefully began slipping her shoulder out from underneath her head as Draco knelt down to replace it with his arm. Putting his other arm under her knees, Draco lifted Hermione off the bathroom floor, bridal style. Her towel stayed wrapped around her petite frame as he carried her across the hall onto the bed. He gently laid her down, her mess of a hair splayed out on the pillow. Instead of bothering to dress her, he simple tucked her in.

Draco sat down next to her still body, lightly caressing her cheek. She wrinkled her nose, her eyes still closed and turned towards his hand. She shifted so she was entirely on her side. Draco moved his hand to hers and held it for a second; her hand remained limp in his.

Draco lifted himself off the bed, gently tried to let go of her hand but it subconsciously tightened on his. He sat back down on the bed and Hermione used her other hand to latch onto the bottom of his shirt.

"Don't leave," she mumbled groggily.

Draco lifted his legs onto the bed and lowered himself onto the pillow, his head next to hers. He let go of her hand and she whimpered.

"Don't leave," His ears had to strain to hear her whisper.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered into her ear.

"I won't."

* * *

Draco didn't realize when he'd drifted off to sleep, but he woke up to find Hermione still snuggled next to him, her hands gripping onto his shirt. Gently, Draco extracted himself from her grip and carefully got off the bed. Hermione remained still, her face peaceful. With one last glance back at her, he closed the door with a quiet click behind him.

Ginny had dropped herself between Harry and Ron on the couch and they spoke softly. Draco walked towards Blaise who was in the kitchen.

"And to think that after all those precautions she took," Blaise was saying, "the Death eaters still got to them. She seems to be taking this as her fault when it clearly isn't."

"It's not hers," Draco agreed softly, before adding, "It's ours."

Blaise turned to Draco, frowning. "I beg your pardon?"

"It's _our _fault." Draco repeated. "This happened after they'd been captured and brought to the manor. After that, someone had the brilliant idea of tracking down her parents to see if they had any information." Blaise was looking down with a concerned look on his face, his teeth clenched. "It _is_ our fault."

Blaise remained silent, an unreadable expression on his face. Draco ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"How am I supposed to sit here and comfort her when I know that I'm responsible for everything she's going through?" Draco whispered angrily.

"Mate, it's not _you_ that did anything," Blaise said.

"But I was a part of it wasn't I? I was a Death eater!" He pushed up the sleeve of his left arm to show the now faded mark. The snake could barely be seen if you squinted and the lines were now so faint that they may as well have been dark veins running down his arm. Blaise tugged the sleeve back down over his arm.

"But you're not anymore." Blaise kept his grasp of Draco's left wrist. They stared into each other's eyes with a slight hysteria which seemed to slowly die out. Both of them gradually regained their composure and Draco spoke softly again.

"Let's hope she sees it that way."

* * *

_One Week Later_

Draco walked out of the fireplace and brushed the soot off his clothes. He turned to find Hermione finally looking showered and clean in a plain t-shirt and jeans. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail with a few strands falling out at the front. She was holding something next to her ear.

"Hey," he greeted her. She looked up and raised her hand up as if to say _Hold on one second._ Draco nodded, confused. _What is she holding?_ He thought.

"Okay," she said. Draco opened his mouth to reply but she waved the hand that was frozen midair, stopping him from speaking. Draco was now more puzzled than ever. "Okay," she repeated. "Thanks, Kingsley."

Draco looked around and couldn't find the minister anywhere. _Who is she talking to?_ She took the thing away from her ear and smiled a little at Draco's confused expression. She held out the tiny box, about the size of her hand, in front to him.

"It's a cell phone," she told him.

"A _what_?"

"Never mind." She shook her head. "It's a muggle device used to talk to people who are far away; kind of like sending owls, except you can actually talk."

Draco nodded his head slowly. "Is it safe to assume you didn't call me down here to give me a lecture on how I should have paid attention in Muggle Studies?"

Hermione sighed and shook her head. "I'm going back," she said her back facing him as she busied herself with something in the kitchen. "To Alice Springs, I mean." She turned to look at Draco who had the obvious question written on his face. "I need to see their graves; I need to say goodbye." Her voice shook at the last word, but she steadied herself.

Draco watched her with sad eyes. "And you want me to come with you?"

Hermione shrugged. "I was hoping," she mumbled.

"Of course." He quickly assured her.

"Okay," She breathed out and gave a quick smile, looking immensely relieved that she wouldn't be alone. "We leave today, at five." She turned around and opened the fridge to pull out some food.

Draco nodded. "What are you doing until then?" _Should I take her out of the house? Sit with her? This is not my forte, _He thought, slightly panicky.

"I'm going to Grimmauld Place. I'll just stay with Harry and Ginny for a while."

* * *

Draco checked his watch; it was 4:30. He had been hoping he would have a chance to talk to her before they left but she wasn't back yet. He waited patiently on her couch.

The fireplace roared to life and Hermione stepped out, looking frazzled. She was out of breath and jumped slightly when she noticed him on the couch.

"Draco," she said amusedly. "You're early!" She continued walking towards her bedroom.

"I wanted to talk to you,"

She stopped in her tracks, frowning at his ominous words. "Okay," she said slowly.

Draco took a deep breath. "Before we do anything, or go anywhere, I need to make sure that you know what happened." he formed each word slowly.

Hermione frowned. "Draco of course I know wha–"

"_Exactly _what happened." he interrupted. "To your parents." He waited for an emotion to flicker across a face. But it remained calm.

After a long pause, Hermione finally spoke. "Are you referring to the fact that they were killed right after we were captured in Malfoy Manor?" she said with a steady voice.

Draco paled. He swallowed once before he nodded.

"I know," Hermione continued. "Of course I know. Do you honestly believe that I wouldn't try to find out every little detail of this?"

"Good point," Draco muttered.

"But what did you want to say about it?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Draco told her, receiving his answer through Hermione's clueless look. "I wanted to apologize."

Hermione's look of confusion turned to one of incredulity. "What on earth are you apologizing for?" Her tone was a mix of surprise and amusement. Before he could reply, realization flooded her features. "You don't think you're at fault, now, do you?"

"I was part of–"

"Draco, I'm not blaming you one bit! How could you think that?"

"But–"

"I know you didn't do anything." she cut him off again. "I don't care what you were back then. Who you are now is the only thing that matters to me." She put her hand on his knee and looked up at his eyes which were apprehensive. Looking down at her watch, she said, "Now get up; we're going to miss the portkey."

Draco stood up with her, holding himself back from lifting her up and wrapping her in a bone crushing hug; it was probably the last thing she needed right now. He put his finger on a shriveled sponge with her. Hermione looked at it and took a deep breath.

* * *

She stayed knelt down quietly in front of the stone for a long time before she actually spoke in a shaky voice. Draco stood watching her, leaning on a tree about 10 meters away. Hermione had told him she wanted to do it alone, but she just wanted to know that he was there.

He saw her petite frame shake a little bit and began to replay his conversation with Blaise today in his head.

"_I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"_

"_What's there not to know?" Blaise shrugged at him. "She asked you to go with her, you go. She asks you to say something for her parents, you compose an epitaph. She asks you to stand 10 feet away, you go 100 feet away. She says she's hungry, you buy her a freaking restaurant!" he told him like it was the most obvious knowledge in the world. "The concept is quite simple, really."_

_Draco sighed and replied softly. "But I know Hermione; she's not just going there so she could greet her parents and make small talk on the weather. There's going to be waterworks; and a lot of it."_

"_Mate, you have to decide at that moment what feels right for you to do–"_

"_You don't understand, Blaise." he groaned. "It's impossible for me to think on my feet; this is not my area of expertise!_

"_I need to show her I can be there for her. So far, it's just been ex-boyfriends, and flirting travel agents an–"_

"_I beg your pardon?" Blaise interrupted with an eyebrow raised._

_Draco ignored him. "This is the real stuff. If I can't handle this with her," he trailed off._

_Silence passed between them. Blaise took a deep breath._

"_She's going to cry, you're sure of that." he restated. "But there's one thing you can always do."_

Hermione had wrapped her arms around herself, as if trying to hold herself together. Draco pushed his back off the tree and stood straight. Her nose and cheeks were pink and her eyes were still glistening. She bit on her quivering lip to stop it from trembling before muttering, "Let's go."

Draco put his arms out and pulled her into himself gently. He wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed more and tightly enveloped her in his tall frame.

"_Just hold her."_

**(E/N): OMG the ending is perfect. Its soooooo adorable. I. LOVE. IT. Can't wait for the next chapter (Translation: Hurry up!) ily loads, -Rae**


	9. Not Your Average Purebloods Part I

Hello! It's been a while, but how have you all been since then? This chapter originally started as one really long document, but my AWESOME BETA (I love you shrus6291) told me to split it up and so there's two parts. Part two will be out in about... 7 minutes maybe, so don't worry about a long wait.

I'm not usually one to beg and grovel, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW. It makes me feel good :D Wouldn't you like to put a smile on someone's face?

Disclaimer: J.K Rowling has replied to my long emails and she politely declined my offer to buy the plot line... Something about wanting to be acknowledged for her own work... But I'm sure if I pester her enough, she'll cave in eventually; however until then, I OWN NOTHING.

Enjoy :D

* * *

**Previously on Choices:**

"_Are you asking me out?" Luna asked._

_Blaise stuttered. "No! Well, yes. _

"_I would love to."_

…

"_Don't leave," Hermione mumbled groggily_

_Draco wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered into her ear. "I won't."_

…

"_How am I supposed to sit here and comfort her when I know that I'm responsible for everything she's going through?" Draco whispered angrily._

…

"_Draco, I'm not blaming you one bit! How could you think that?"_

…

"_She's going to cry, you're sure of that." Blaise said. "But there's one thing you can always do. Just hold her."_

* * *

She pushed her knees up to her chest and held the hot chocolate close to her face, inhaling the comforting scent. Her hair was up in a bun, with a few curly tendrils falling over her eyes.

"Do you want marshmallows?"

"I hate marshmallows," she shook her head.

"What about any food?"

"I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure? You really shouldn't sleep on an empty stomach." He walked out of the kitchen holding a plate expectantly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Go home, Draco."

"But –"

"_Go home_." She emphasized each word slowly.

"I'm just looking out for you–"

"I'm not a child, Draco." She glared. Before he could open his mouth to say anything, she interrupted. "I'll be fine; I've got my hot chocolate and a nice book to cuddle up to with my blanket. I'll be _fine._"

Draco still looked uncertain.

Hermione sighed. "And you can check up on me tomorrow morning."

He eased a little, but still didn't budge. Hermione sighed again, put down her untouched cup of hot chocolate and unwillingly stood up. She picked up his coat, draped over the kitchen stool and shoved it into his hands. Draco soon felt himself being pushed to the front door against his will.

"Merlin, you're strong," Draco tried to push back on her small hands. He wasn't quite sure how, but she'd managed to open the door without letting go of him, and he was on the other side of the doorway in a matter of seconds. "How did you–"

"Go home," It wasn't a polite request anymore. It was an order.

"But–"

"I told you I'll be fine; I'm a big girl."

"But–"

"No buts, Draco. I'll see you in the morning." Draco could sense her tone left no room for argument so he agreed hesitantly. Hermione began to shut the door when he put a hand to stop it from slamming in front of him.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay? I mean I could read to you if you li–"

_Slam._ The door shut in his uncertain face. _That boy won't quit,_ Hermione thought exasperatedly. She slowly began walking towards the steaming cup which seemed to be calling out to her. Her fantasy was disturbed by a hesitant knock on the door. Hermione groaned and turned around.

She opened the door and gave him the best glare she could but softened when she saw Draco's face looking like a small child caught doing something bad; a mixture of guilt and apprehension. His hands were in his pockets as he spoke softly.

"The floo is in your living room."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh as she let him in and he walked to the fireplace.

"You could have just apparated home, you know." She said, still amused.

"I have my wards up." He shrugged. Draco grabbed a fistful of floo powder from the small basket and stepped into the fireplace. He paused with his hand still in a fist holding the powder. Draco looked into her eyes and Hermione felt her knees go weak from the intensity of his gaze.

Draco stepped out of the fireplace, dumped the powder back into the basket without taking his eyes off hers. He stepped towards Hermione, whose legs had turned to jelly, and slid his hand under her hair, grasping the back of her neck in a massaging manner. He leaned his head over hers and she let their lips gently touch.

It was nothing more, just a peck; but the effect was electrifying. He pulled away slowly and walked back to the floo powder, picked some up and went into the fireplace. Hermione stood rooted to the ground, watching him walk into the fireplace and shout "MALFOY MANOR!"

The green flames blazed around him and he disappeared with a whoosh. She stared at the empty, crackling fireplace for a long time, not sure how to regain feeling in her legs. Her hand moved to where his lips had touched her. A tingle traveled from her lips to the tips of her fingers and she shivered involuntarily.

"Sweet Merlin,"

* * *

"More wine?"

"Any more and I'd say you were trying to get me drunk,"

"The thought may have crossed my mind." He laughed and she smiled serenely, seemingly staring into space. They had just finished their dessert in the ridiculously expensive restaurant.

"I must say, Blaise," Luna looked at him with her usual look of calmness. "This has been quite lovely."

"I'm just glad you said yes." He grinned widely at her. He looked at her hand resting on the table while he battled with himself. _Should I? Is it too soon?_

"Are you okay, Blaise?" Luna frowned ever so slightly, the wrinkle between her brows looking foreign. "You look like a wrackspurt got into your brain."

"No. it's nothing." He reassured her before taking his hand and placing it on top of hers. He watched her face; she didn't say or do anything. Luna looked at him with a small smile adorning her delicate features.

"Would you like to take a walk?" he asked her.

Her eyes immediately brightened. "I love walks."

He smiled and stood up with her, not letting go of her hand and led her out of the restaurant. Many stared strangely at them as they walked towards a park; it was probably because Luna's dress was patterned with large orange strawberries and had a wide row of frills around the waist. Blaise loved it.

He was no longer holding her hand, but they stood in close proximity of each other. Every once in a while, they're arms would brush, making Luna blush and Blaise smile shyly. The park was quite deserted; the only sound was the wind rustling the leaves.

They approached a duck pond that was usually crowded during the day. Now, only a few ducks floated silently across the water. They walked along the side of it when Luna spoke.

"Did you know ducks are the descendants of nargles?" She looked at him with wide eyes. "Many think it's the other way around but nargles simply evolved very quickly. When dad and I went on a hunt…" She went on.

Blaise gazed at her, just listening to the sound of her voice which chimed like bells. Her big blue pools were like sparkling crystals when she spoke about crumple-horned snorkacks or wrackspurts or nargles. Oh, how he'd love (has he before?) to run his hands through her silky blonde hair which cascaded down her back in waves. And her lips; they were like two full–

"I love you." He blurted out, his voice managing to echo into the night sky. His eyes widened as soon as the words left his mouth and he fought off the urge of clamping his mouth shut and running away in the opposite direction to vomit behind a bush. _Oh Merlin. What have I said? What in the name of Merlin's grey trousers have I done?_

Luna had stopped walking and was looking straight ahead, her expression still dazed and tranquil. _Oh, bollocks,_ he feared the worst. _It's the calm before the storm. _Luna simply turned to Blaise with a pleasant smile.

"That's nice."

The two of them continued walking, Luna acting as if nothing had happened, and Blaise staring in disbelief.

* * *

Hermione's blanket was tucked around her legs that were curled up against her chest. The book lay open on the arm of the chair and smiling contentedly, Hermione finally brought the hot chocolate to her lips for the first taste of goodness–

_Knock knock knock. _She froze, glaring into space; she chose to ignore it and brought the cup to her mouth again. _Just one sip–_

_Knock knock knock._

"Ugh," she groaned and put down her hot chocolate. She pushed the blanket off herself and lifted herself off the chair to answer the door.

"Hey, how are you?" Ron looked at her in concern. Hermione stared back fiercely.

"You are this close to being Malfoy in third year."

"Bad time?"

"You have no idea." Hermione moved aside to make way for him to get in. He walked in and dropped himself on the chair, _her chair_, and put his feet up on the table in front. Hermione shut the door and began walking to the other couch.

"Is this hot chocolate?" Ron picked up her mug. Before she could say anything, he had gulped down half of it. "Well, it's not really _hot_."

Hermione wanted to cry. "Go ahead, Ronald." She muttered angrily while making her way to the kitchen. "It's not like _I_ was going to drink that. I've been having a _brilliant _week and _don't _need a pick-me-up."

"Did you say something?" he called to her.

She sighed and mumbled to herself. "That boy just _screams _sensitivity." Hermione settled on simply making herself a cup of tea which was a lot quicker than the calorie-filled hot chocolate.

"Why have you decided to _grace_ me with your presence?" Hermione's voice leaked with sarcasm as she took a sip of the tea. "To what do I owe this _pleasure_?"

Ron frowned. "You've been spending too much time with Malfoy." Hermione blinked in surprise but let him continue. "I just came by to see how you were doing."

Hermione quirked an eyebrow.

"Is that _so_ hard to believe?"

"It is quite sad that the answer to that question is _yes_, Ronald." She looked at him again, waiting for the truthful explanation.

Ron sighed. "Harry's _busy_ with Ginny," He scrunched up his nose before he continued. "George, Dean and Seamus all have plans and I'm not quite at the stage of approaching Malfoy or Zabini willingly."

"So you're bored?" Hermione felt her anger rise again as she realized she was just some last resort for entertainment.

"No! I have to tell someone something so I can ask for advice." Ron was slowly turning red.

_Oh boy,_ Hermione braced herself. She sat down on the other couch, much like she had before with her hot chocolate, instead now holding tea, and let out a breath. "Alright; hit me."

"I met someone."

Hermione very nearly spit out the tea that was in her mouth. Though she refrained from doing that, she couldn't stop herself from choking and coughing. Ron glared at her and she controlled herself, urging him to go on.

"Well," he started. "You know how I've been helping George at the shop, right? So we hired a girl to help out as well; kind of as a receptionist. And well, she's," he trailed off for a second, looking slightly upwards into space. "She's really pretty, and people say she's shallow but I don't think so. She's not the brightest, though."

"Oh god," Hermione groaned and grimaced at him. "It's not Bobble head Brown, is it?"

"No, no," Ron grimaced back. "It's not Lavender." He paused, watching Hermione's expression very cautiously. "It's Pansy."

Hermione froze. For a few moments, even the sounds of their breathing had subsided. Ron was turning red out of embarrassment as Hermione's eyes were transfixed on him.

"Parkinson?" she said out loud, not believing her own words. "_Pug-face_ Parkinson?" she said a little louder.

"Don't call her that." Ron said defensively.

"Merlin, pinch me, I'm dreaming." Hermione mumbled. Ron fell back on the couch rolling his eyes. "Okay, Ron. Anything else you want to say about this?" Her voice was strained.

"Not really," he said. "She came yesterday and I was showing her around and telling her about our system, and half an hour later," His voice got softer. "…We had christened the small store room." He shrugged.

"Christened?" Her voice went up a notch. "So you're telling me it was her _first_ day there and you spoke to her for quite possibly thirty seconds before you _christened _the _store room_?"

"It wasn't thirty seconds! It was–"

"Save it, Ronald."

"But I don't know what to do now!"

Hermione sighed for what felt like the millionth time that night. "There are two reasons as to why I can't help you. Number one, this conversation is making me _very _uncomfortable. And number two, I honestly don't have a clue; this is the one thing that the library never had answers to. Ask Harry whenever he's free."

Ron sighed and leaned his head back on the cushion on the couch.

"Why is it," Hermione said slowly, "that all relationships seem to begin with sex?"

Ron snapped his head up and looked at her in horror.

"Are you saying that Harry and Ginny's started wi–?"

"No, Ron." Hermione cut him off before he could have an aneurism over the fact that his sister was a grown woman. "They're the only normal couple; they waited."

"What makes you think they're still not waiting?" he sat up in the couch, a mixture of disgust and terror on his face. Ah, Ron; forever the fool in denial.

"What do you think they're doing now, Ron? River dancing?"

A flurry of emotions ran across his face before he muttered quietly. "I was thinking salsa." He looked down and shrugged subtly. "Maybe a cha-cha or a mambo," he trailed off.

Hermione smirked. "Oh, it's a mambo alright. The _horizontal_ mambo." She laughed and ducked as a cushion soared towards her head.

* * *

They walked together in the bustling street. Her shoulders bumped against others a few times as they hurried past her.

"You brought me to Diagon Alley?"

"I thought we could have lunch and maybe you would like to shop around a little, get your mind off things." Draco shrugged.

"You thought _I_ would like to _shop_ around?" Hermione said amusedly.

"Don't most girls _like _to shop?" Draco defended himself. Hermione gave him a look which made him answer his own question. "Right; you're not like most girls."

"Not in the slightest."

"Well," He took her hand and pulled it slightly as his pace quickened. "There's at least one place you'd like." Draco tugged her along with him and Hermione frowned in confusion, but followed along.

They stopped in front of a store with large glass windows and a flashing sign; it looked brand new as the displays in the window gleamed in the sunlight. The inside looked very empty, but it still had a liveliness about it which couldn't be explained. Hermione felt a small smile grow on her lips.

"It just opened a few days ago and I thought you might like to see it." Draco still held her hand and they both stood in front of the doorway. "Well, do you want to go in or just stand out here and ogle it?" he joked.

She looked at him, her eyes expressing the obvious gratitude.

"Please," he scoffed. "I know the one place the _bookworm_ would always go."

They walked in through the doors together and Hermione immediately felt at home with the tall bookshelves that stretched to the back of the shop. She let go of Draco's hand and walked to a random shelf, running her hands through the spines of the books. Her eyes held a faraway look, reminding Draco of Luna Lovegood, and a pleasant smile stayed on her face.

Draco's watching was interrupted by a misty panther which glided in and swirled in front of him. It stopped and opened its mouth.

"_Draco,_" Blaise's voice sounded from it. "_Come to the manor; it's an emergency."_ He sounded intense and worried, which only made Draco anxious. The Patronus vanished but Draco continued to stare at the place where it had been just a few seconds ago.

_It's an emergency._

He looked up and saw Hermione still at the same shelf, reading the back cover of a book intently. He walked towards her uncertainly.

"Hermione," he said quietly. "I have to go,"

Her eyes were wide with concern. She quickly slid the book back on to the shelf while she asked him. "Why? Is everything alright?"

"Well, I don't know. Blaise said it's an emergency so I need to go make sure he's okay. But you stay here, and I'll come back." he quickly added

"No, I'm coming with you." She shook her head. "The bookstore isn't going anywhere, Draco."

"It could be dangerous–"

"That's hardly an excuse for me, Draco." Hermione rolled her eyes at him but he still didn't seem too convinced. "I don't think you need me to demonstrate my magical abilities right now; Blaise needs us!"

Draco gazed at her for a moment. "You're too selfless, you know?"

Hermione sighed. "Well you're too melodramatic. Now let's go!" She practically pushed him out the door so he could apparate them to the Zabini Manor.

* * *

"Blaise?" he called out. Hermione walked behind him, her eyes taking in every inch of the dark manor. Their steps echoed down the forlorn hallway as they slowly walked. "Wands out," Draco whispered to Hermione but smirked when he saw she had already pulled it out.

Their footsteps were wary and Draco felt the fear build up in his chest as they neared the living room. He couldn't hear anything coming from the room but the panic in him was still rising. He glanced over once at Hermione whose eyes were narrowed slightly and had a look of concentration on her face; he could feel her brain working overtime.

She glanced at him as well and simultaneously, their wands rose slightly higher as they stepped into the shadowy living room. A long figure sat on the couch, his back facing them and Draco immediately dropped his wand arm down and relaxed from his slightly bent position.

With a flick of his wand, all the lights in the room turned on. "Blaise!" he complained. Hermione blinked in confusion as she lowered her wand and they walked to the couch.

"Do you have _any_ idea how bloody scared we were?" Draco continued, getting no response from Blaise. Blaise hadn't really moved either; not even a flinch when the lights turned on.

Hermione finally saw his face; his eyes were wide and unblinking, staring at the empty fireplace in front of him, and his elbows were resting on his knees.

"You need to elaborate on the word '_emergency_'." Draco continued and sat down on the couch next to him. No answer. "Hello? Earth to Zabini." Draco looked expectantly at him.

"Draco," Hermione peered curiously at his face. "I think he's in shock." Draco leaned forward and examined Blaise's face quite the same way Hermione was. He grinned.

"Well how do we get him out of it?" He chuckled slightly. When Hermione shrugged, he snorted. "Maybe you should give him the same punch you gave me in third year."

"Very funny, Draco." She sat down on the other side of Blaise and shook his shoulder gently. "Blaise?" she called out to him softly.

"Slap him." Draco said simply.

"No, Draco." She said exasperatedly. "I am not going to slap–"

"Just do it."

"I am not going to slap him!"

"Don't worry, he won't mind too much."

"Draco–"

A mumble came from between the bickering couple. They both turned to Blaise and waited for him to make some sense.

Blaise shrugged. "It's probably just wrackspurts."

They both stared open-mouthed as if Blaise had just confessed his undying love for Snape. Draco broke the silence with a chuckle.

"Mate, you have been spending _way_ too much time with Lovegood." He shook his head. Hermione noticed Blaise flinch slightly when Draco mentioned Luna.

"Blaise?" she asked guardedly. "Did something happen with you and Luna?"

A flood of emotions ran across his face in a millisecond before he replied in a high voice. "She said 'that's _nice_'." Hermione and Draco looked at each other, frowning. "There was the ducks, and the nargles and her lips and then '_that's nice'._"

"_English_, would be much appreciated, Blaise." Draco heaved a sigh.

Suddenly, words began pouring out of Blaise's mouth at lightning speed and Hermione blinked in shock while Draco leaned his head in slightly, concentrating on the torrent of words.

When he finished, Blaise let his back fall on to the couch and let out a huge breath. His eyes were frenzied but his demeanor was finally relaxed. Hermione was fighting a smile but Draco didn't even try to resist it.

"That was your _first_ date, Zabini. What is wrong with you?"

"Shut up, Draco." Hermione gave him a look which made his smile vanish immediately. "Maybe," she said slowly, "she didn't hear you right."

"Oh no," Blaise shook his head. "She heard me. The ducks in the pond heard me. The nargles on the _moon_ heard me."

Draco's eyes widened. "You _really_ need to stop spending so much time with Lovegood."

"What do you not understand about shut up, Draco?" Hermione snapped. Draco's smile dropped again and he pushed his lip out in a slight pout. "Blaise, Luna's different. She's an unconventional girl who's going to do eccentric things. You can't expect customary responses from her."

Blaise was silent. The frenzy in his eyes had died down a little and he was taking slow steady breaths. Once again, Draco broke the silence.

"Can I say something?"

"No." Blaise and Hermione answered at the same time. Draco's face fell; it was very obviously feigned sadness but Hermione still caved. "Alright, Draco."

Draco grinned at her. "Blaise, what you need to do now, is forget this ever happened, go on more dates with Luna and wait for her to say it to you." He stated as if it was the most obvious knowledge in the world. Blaise contemplated this and then turned to Hermione, who nodded in agreement.

"But," Blaise protested. "What if she never says it to me? What if–"

"What if the sky turns to fire?" Draco interrupted. "What if Hermione becomes brain-damaged? What if _I_ start _balding_?" Blaise snickered. "There's no use dwelling on what-if's, Blaise."

Hermione frowned, but nodded. "As oddly as that was phrased and as much as I hate to admit it, Draco's right." Blaise nodded sullenly. There was more awkwardness in the air as Hermione and Draco spoke from behind Blaise's back with their eyes, trying to figure out what to do next.

"Hey, Blaise, do you want to come over to my apartment for a bit?" Hermione asked hesitantly. "We could watch a movie." She suggested.

Both of them answered at the same time. "A _what_?"

* * *

(A/N Acknowledging Shonda Rhimes' Grey's Anatomy from where I borrowed a line)


	10. Not Your Average Purebloods Part II

I think it's been a little more than 7 minutes, but I hope you forgive me for the delay ;D Enjoy part two which was edited by my AWESOME BETA once again (I love you shrus6291). This half is considerably shorter, but I hope you still like it.

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW

Disclaimer: 7 minutes is hardly enough time to progress with my JK Rowling situation. so I STILL OWN NOTHING.

Enjoy :D

* * *

**Previously on Choices:**

_Draco leaned his head over hers and she let their lips gently touch. It was nothing more, just a peck; but the effect was electrifying. Hermione's hand moved to where his lips had touched her. A tingle travelled from her lips to the tips of her fingers and she shivered involuntarily._

"_Sweet Merlin,"_

…

"_I love you." Blaise blurted out, his voice managing to echo into the night sky_

_Luna simply turned to Blaise with a pleasant smile. "That's nice."_

…

"_That was your first date, Zabini. What is wrong with you?"_

…

"_I met someone." Ron watched Hermione cautiously. "It's Pansy."_

…

_Hermione asked hesitantly. "We could watch a movie." She suggested._

_Both Draco and Blaise answered at the same time. "A what?"_

* * *

Draco Malfoy liked movies. It was two hours of not thinking about his eventful life and focus on someone else's.

"Why hadn't I discovered this before?"

"Because it's a Muggle thing, Draco." Hermione rolled her eyes. Blaise had been sitting silently next to her on the couch for the whole movie, sulking.

Draco shrugged but kept his eyes on the screen. He leaned in slightly and spoke into her ear. "Do you want to have dinner later?"

"Oh, sorry." Hermione leaned in towards him too. "I already have plans." She glanced at the clock over her kitchen counter and immediately straightened up. "Plans that I need to be ready for in fifteen minutes." She stood and began walking to her room.

Draco's eyes followed her. "Plans with who?"

Right on cue, the fireplace blazed to life and Harry stepped out, brushing soot of his clothes. A few seconds later, Ron was out too, coughing as he choked on the dust.

"Hey, Hermione," Ron greeted her with a goofy grin. "Ready to go?"

"Give me ten minutes, guys," She hurried into her room and put on a purple shirt and jeans and slipped her feet into her black flats. Standing in front of her mirror, she dabbed on whatever make-up she had (which wasn't very much) and stepped out, finger-combing her hair.

Harry looked down at his wrist, his eyebrows raised. "Some girl you are; that _actually_ was ten minutes. Alright, then; we should be off."

"Wait," Draco stopped them. "Where are you going?"

The trio eyed him curiously for a while, all obviously thinking the same thing. The glanced at one another, their minds clearly in tune.

"Do you think he can come? Can he take it?" Ron wore a smirk that very much resembled a Slytherin's.

Hermione shook her head with the same condescending smirk. "No way." She stepped towards a now very perplexed Draco and ruffled his hair slightly in an adoring way. "Little rich boy won't be able to handle it."

Harry and Ron shrugged. "You're probably right." Hermione smiled and patted Draco's cheek fondly, much like Molly Weasley would.

"W-wait," Draco stuttered as they were stepping out. "I-I am, I am _offended_."

"Okay, Draco." Hermione turned around. "We are going to a Muggle bar." The trio once again made their way to the door.

"A _bar_?" Draco furrowed his brow. "You know, those places can be dangerous." He added a little warily.

Hermione snorted. "_No_, Draco. It's not dangerous, and if you'll excuse me, I'll be off."

They walked out into the hallway with Draco still standing at the door.

"But Hermione–"

"Don't worry, dad," Harry said, his back turned to Draco. "We'll be back by curfew."

They all snickered and walked down the stairwell, away from Draco's sight. Draco sighed and went back into the apartment where the sulking Blaise Zabini was staring at the blue screen of the television, a blank expression on his face.

"Oh boy,"

* * *

The shot glasses clinked together before they threw their head back and gulped the small amount in one go. Altogether, they picked up their lemon wedges and sucked it, the sour taste making them cringe a little. The fire that burned her throat and warmed her chest, made Hermione feel instantly alive. Harry clicked his fingers at the bartender and demanded, "Three more,"

The drinks kept coming, they knocked their glasses again and again, and the blazing vodka that ran down her throat began losing its bitter taste. As she sucked on the lemon, her tongue felt numb and the need to squirm at the sourness was no longer there.

"How many was that?" Hermione asked, her words slurring together.

"Five?" Ron said uncertainly, his words slightly more coherent than Hermione's. "Maybe six or seven."

"I lost count after the second." Harry said and laughed; he laughed _a lot_. He honestly couldn't stop and soon enough, Hermione joined him too. Their uncontrollable laughter felt strange and foreign to their cheeks but it felt as if a large weight had been lifted from their chests.

Hermione suddenly felt light and her feet moved by itself. Looking possessed, she got off her stool, swaying slightly on the spot. Hermione stumbled to the dance floor with Harry following behind her to the center and their arms flew in all directions while they did what one could only assume was dancing.

Ron had ordered two more drinks, his larger frame needing more alcohol to reach the same level of inebriation as Harry and Hermione and he gulped it down in lightning speed. His thrashing movements proved more dangerous than the other two's because of his lanky limbs.

Hermione swung her arm around Harry and Ron, almost on tip-toes, and gave a wild laugh.

"What would I do without you two?" She was shouting in their ears, trying to overpower the music.

"Stay sober?" Harry suggested, his arm awkwardly swinging around her shoulders as well.

"Never get in trouble?" Ron said, his arm sliding across her back and holding her waist.

Hermione felt her stomach clench as Ron's hand tightened a bit too much and she immediately pulled away from them; they didn't seem to mind too much as they continued with their hazardous movements, going deeper into the crowd on the dance floor.

Hermione staggered back to the stools in front of the counter and leaned over on the table, about to get the bartender's attention. She saw a hand slam the counter forcefully next to her. Her eyes followed along his large muscular arm which had a tattoo of a dragon wrapping around his bicep and the tail was hidden underneath a short green sleeve which clung to his burly arm. Hermione let her eyes travel to his face which wore an arrogant grin. He ran his hand through his short blonde hair with his eyes still on her.

"Get the pretty lady a drink as well," he ordered the bartender in a deep voice.

Hermione let out a giggle which was uncannily like Lavender Brown's and bit her lip. Two drinks were placed on the counter and with his eyes still on hers; he pushed the drink towards her.

Hermione eyed the glass cautiously and glanced back and forth between the man and the drink. Her mind seemed to suddenly register the situation; she was in a bar. She was drunk. She was being offered a drink by a stranger.

_Well,_ she thought. _Why the hell not?_

* * *

"Blaise, will you _please _eat something?"

"I don't want food!" he complained.

"How about you just try to get your arse off that bloody couch?" Draco muttered snidely under his breath. Blaise's moping was really starting to bug him. He fixed himself a plate of whatever he could find in Hermione's fridge and went out into the living room to sit in front of the television.

He plopped himself down next to Blaise who didn't acknowledge his presence in any way. Draco ignored him as well and proceeded to figure out how to use the remote. While struggling with the buttons, Blaise finally spoke.

"Never fall in love," he said. "It will only break your heart." His voice broke in the last few words and he let his head fall to the arm of the couch. Blaise lifted his legs up onto the couch and curled himself into a ball; the sight was really quite pathetic.

"No food?" Draco asked one last time. Blaise shook his head. "Firewhisky?" Blaise shook his head again.

"No amount of alcohol can mend my heart now." Blaise said softly. "Only she can."

Draco groaned. "You're acting like a lovesick fool, Zabini! Would you grow a pair?" Blaise answered by putting his arm over his face and moaning.

Draco stared, wide-eyed. In all his years, he had never witnessed Blaise Zabini show any signs of crying; he believed that someone had left out the tear ducts when they created him. But now, here lay Blaise Zabini, sobbing his eyes out over a girl he'd known for two months. Draco refrained from pinching himself.

It was indeed an amazing sight, but rather unnerving. But after ten minutes, Blaise showed no signs of improvement; his sobs were loud and close to yells. Draco was just about ready to pull out his hair.

He heaved himself off the sofa and strode to Hermione's bathroom. He opened the cabinet behind her bathroom mirror and rifled through the bottles until he found what he was looking for. Ignoring the cries that were still coming from the couch, he got a glass of water from the kitchen and poured in half of the bottle.

"Drink, Blaise."

Blaise peeked out from under his arm and simply stared.

"It's water; drink before you become dehydrated." Draco held the glass in front of him until he took it gingerly and drank it. Draco took the empty glass from his hand and went to put it away in the kitchen. By the time he returned to the living room, Blaise was fast asleep with his mouth hanging slightly open.

Draco let out a relieved breath and thanked Merlin that Hermione had stocked up her medicine cabinet. The apartment's tranquility was welcoming, but Draco couldn't ignore the discomfort in the bottom of his stomach; something felt off. He couldn't place exactly what it was, but he could give a guess as to who caused it.

He knelt down in front of the fireplace, threw in some floo powder and stuck his head in, searching. To his luck, she walked into the room that very minute and jumped at the sight of his face in the fire.

He greeted her. "Ginny,"

* * *

Hermione smiled at him flirtatiously and picked up the drink. She could already feel the guilt and regret settle in. _What are you doing? Don't give the man any ideas!_

Her thoughts flickered to Draco, but that was quickly forgotten when the alcohol flowed in. The drink made her feel loose and free; an emotion that was both enthralling and scary. She looked around and spotted Harry and Ron in the distance, still dancing like they were possessed. A very un-Hermione giggle escaped her again as she watched them make complete fools of themselves.

"You want to dance?" the deep voice belonging to the blonde man broke her out of her trance. His mouth was uneasily near to her ear and his breath smelled off whisky.

"Umm," she hesitated. "Sure." Hermione shrugged. _It's just a dance,_ She reassured herself. They moved to the crowd of dancers where Hermione made sure she kept a distance of about half a meter between herself and the man whose name she still didn't know.

He stepped forwards slightly and she subtly stepped back, making it look like she was dancing; but he was making her feel more and more nervous by the second. She glanced around again, searching for Ron and Harry who she saw in the distance; they were paying no attention whatsoever to her.

The man moved forward very noticeably and put his hand on her hip, trying to pull her towards him. Hermione stumbled but pulled back, turning her face away from him. She felt suffocated and tried to back out of the crowd. He was still moving forward though, trying to hold her arm. Hermione turned away from his grip and began simply walking back.

"Come on, gorgeous," he managed to step in front of her and block her way, attempting to push her back to the dancers.

Hermione tried to push him aside but he wouldn't budge. _Oh god,_ she thought, horrified. _What have I gotten myself into?_

Where her two best friends who were supposed to be saving her from her distress? Oh right, getting _plastered_ themselves. She turned her head around, searching desperately for someone who could help her but all she could see was the blonde man's muscular body, pushing her back.

"Hey," she heard a voice that was all too familiar. "I think she wants you to back off."

Blondie finally turned away from her, facing the voice. Hermione took this opportunity to slip out from under him and stand next to her savior.

"Draco?" she said under her breath in shock. Draco wasn't looking at her though; he was staring at the man with malice in his eyes. Hermione saw two rather big men come up from behind him.

_Oh great,_ she thought with dread. _He has cronies; should've figured._ The worst part was that they were both as big as him and Draco looked like a beanpole in comparison.

"I don't think this is any of your business," The man spit back at Draco in a threatening tone.

Harry and Ron chose this moment to make their way towards Hermione. She glared. _I guess they just remembered that they had brought me along._

The three men looked at Draco disdainfully, daring him to go any further.

The blonde man spoke again. "So why don't _you_ just _back off_," He said through clenched teeth.

Hermione looked worriedly at Draco who had a humorless smile on his face. _Is he nuts?_ He glanced at Hermione once before looking back at the Muggles.

Hermione now knew she was doomed. He really had gone delusional; his face clearly showed he was going to insult men who were twice his size and he showed no signs of taking out his wand.

"You know what I like about drunk guys?" Draco asked no one in particular with the same grim smile. (E/N I think I know what's coming…)

Suddenly, Draco's clenched fist came in contact with the man's jaw with a crack and he was sprawled on the floor with clutching his bleeding mouth. Draco stood above him, his teeth bared and his hand still clenched tightly.

"Nothing," he spat. (E/N HAHAHAHAHAHA I LOVE YOU)

Hermione was rooted to the spot, her eyes staring widely at the large man who was on the floor. The cronies stood staring frantically at the man on the ground and then narrowed their eyes at Draco.

_Uh-oh._

"You mess with him," they said menacingly, "you mess with us."

Draco grabbed Hermione's hand and tugged on it, pulling her out of the bar. _Wise decision, Draco. _She kept her sarcastic comments to herself as she pushed people out of the way to run to the door.

Draco looked back and called out to the two buffoons still gaping in horror. "Hey, morons!"

To Hermione's shock, they responded to the call and immediately bolted out the door with them. She heard the two large minions yell and follow so they quickened their pace.

"I should have thought that through," Draco muttered.

"Never mind," Hermione said. "Where can you apparate?"

"Few more blocks," he panted, running out of breath.

They turned a corner into an alleyway and stopped for a moment, catching their breath. Draco still held Hermione's hand and stuck out his arm to Harry and Ron who immediately grabbed a hold of it and Draco turned on the spot.

* * *

(A/N Acknowledging Josh Schwartz's 'The OC' from which I borrowed an idea)


	11. We Build and then We Break

A/N I know, I know, it's been months. But I won't bother giving stupid excuses that don't make any sense .?docid=19335864because the plain answer is that I kind of lost my path for the story... But I'm back on track! It took me several drafts and changes to fix this and for me to actually like where I'm going with this. So, I hope you like it!

Huge shout out to my beta shrus6291 I LOVE YOU! and a shout out to one reviewer flamingo147 who motivated me to work a little faster =)

Disclaimer: No progress on my Rowling mission... And I did just get the book "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" from my school library today, so that will keep me occupied for a while. So it will be a while before I start pestering poor JKR...

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(Title comes from a song by the Fray)

**Previously on Choices:**

"_I love you." Blaise blurted out, his voice managing to echo into the night sky_

_Luna simply turned to Blaise with a pleasant smile. "That's nice."_

…

"_I met someone." Ron watched Hermione cautiously. "It's Pansy."_

…

"_A Muggle bar?" Draco furrowed his brow. "You know, those places can be dangerous."_

…

"_Hey," Hermione heard Draco appear out of nowhere. "I think she wants you to back off."_

"_I don't think this is any of your business," The man spit back._

_Suddenly, Draco's clenched fist came in contact with the man's jaw with a crack and he was sprawled on the floor, clutching his bleeding mouth. Draco stood above him, his teeth bared and his hand still clenched tightly._

_Draco held Hermione's hand and stuck out his arm to Harry and Ron, who immediately grabbed a hold of it, and turned on the spot._

...

The waiter placed the levitating plates down in front of each person on the table, but they paid him no attention as most of the table roared with laughter.

"I still can't believe you guys did that." Ginny said between her giggles. "To think Hermione Granger _actually _got wasted."

Hermione shook her head. "Don't forget Harry,"

"And Malfoy's legendary punch." Harry added.

Draco pursed his lips. "Never happening again; my hand was in excruciating pain."

"_We_," Hermione said specifically to Harry, "are never going to a bar again."

Harry smirked and turned to the Blaise and Draco next to him. "It's not my fault you women can't hold your liquor." The three of them chuckled.

Luna, Hermione and Ginny glared. "Well," Hermione said with an eyebrow raised. "It wasn't me who was dancing like he was being attacked by a blast-ended screwt."

Harry looked down, embarrassed. Ginny leaned forward and put her hand on his. "It's alright, dear." She said softly. "Anyways, I have some good news." Her voice became cheery and excited.

Harry frowned. "I thought you wanted to wait until it was confirmed to tell them."

"It was confirmed." Ginny's face glowed. "I've been offered to be a seeker for the Holyhead Harpies!" She said with a bounce.

"That's brilliant!" Everyone congratulated her and Harry squeezed her hand affectionately. Her grin was nearly blinding.

"You know," Blaise said once the congratulations had died down. "I'm really glad we did this; it was nice to spend time together."

Draco frowned. His hand holding the glass stopped midair as he spoke. "But I thought you _made_ us all come along with you because you were too scared to face–oof!" Draco bent over slightly as an elbow was jabbed into his side violently. "Thanks for that, Blaise." He said, his voice not making it louder than a whisper as he placed his glass on the table and rubbed his bruising side.

When everyone turned to look at her warily, Luna still seemed completely oblivious to what had just happened. Blaise inconspicuously breathed a sigh of relief as an awkward silence settled in. Hermione took a sip from her glass as she glanced around and immediately wished she hadn't. She snorted in shock as her drink was now caught in her windpipe, making her cough violently. Ginny patted her back, looking at what had caused Hermione to choke; her eyes widened.

"What?" Harry asked.

Luna answered coolly for him, though. "Isn't that Ron?"

Three heads turned around to look at the door where, sure enough, Ron was walking through. But that wasn't what made them gasp; it was the familiar brunette on his arm wearing a simple black dress and heels.

"Pansy?" Blaise and Draco whispered at the same time.

"Oh dear," Hermione rested her forehead in her hands. Harry turned back to her.

"I thought it wasn't serious!" he told Hermione in a loud whisper. "They were just messing around, weren't they?"

"Well," Hermione said, "_clearly_ not."

Blaise had turned around and his face was scrunched up into a thoughtful grimace as he mouthed, '_Pansy?_'

Draco mumbled. "This is not normal."

"How about we get the check, then?" Harry waved his hand at the waiter.

"Splendid idea, Harry." Hermione pasted a fake smile on her face. She sent a quick worried glance towards Ginny which Harry caught as well. The look on her face was not amused like the others; she was undoubtedly _not_ happy.

...

The night was cool and refreshing as the couple walked in silence. Their hands brushed against each others lightly, but didn't link; the awkward tension between them was obvious.

"That was fun," Hermione said to him. "It was great to meet everyone."

Draco simply nodded, looking ahead. His expression was blank, as if he barely acknowledged the fact that she was beside him.

Hermione sighed. "Are we finally going to talk about this?"

"What?" Draco turned to her, his eyebrows raised.

"Don't act stupid, Draco," she replied stiffly. "You've been acting like this ever since the night at the bar."

At the mention of that night, Hermione noticed him press his lips together tightly. Draco shoved his hands into his pockets and shook his head. "There's nothing to say, Hermione. You were pretty clear that night."

Hermione stopped in her tracks. "And what is _that _supposed to mean?" she demanded loudly. She grabbed his arm and spun him to face her, his hands still buried in his pockets. Draco's teeth were clenched slightly and he was wearing a poker face.

"I don't know, Hermione!" he cried loudly. "You're the smart one! You're the one who knows _everything_; you figure it out!" His voice rang into the night. The both glanced around and noticed people turning to look at them. "We'll talk when we get home." Draco stalked forward with Hermione at his side.

As they reached a secluded alley, Draco stuck his arm out for her and without protest, Hermione clutched onto it so they could both apparate.

A moment later, they were in Draco's small apartment, their faces scrunched into angry grimaces. Hermione dropped her hand away as soon as they landed, and walked away from him. She watched as he distractedly took off his coat and hung it at the rack near the door, all the while waiting for him to come up behind her and politely take her coat like he always did; he never did.

He began walking past her beside the couch, and down the small hall which led to his bedroom.

"No way," Hermione took a large step forward, reaching out and grasping his arm. "You do not get to walk away from this anymore; we are talking about this _now_."

Draco's eyes narrowed slightly but he didn't resist.

"Okay," Hermione started slowly. "Is this about the man you punched in the bar?"

She heard him scoff before he spoke. "This is about why I even _had_ to punch a man in a bar. Why in Merlin's name would you provoke him like that?"

"Me?" she cried in a shrill tone. "_I _did _n_-_nothing_ of that sort! It's not m-my fault he was piss drunk; you know how those men can be–"

"Liar," Draco said simply. Hermione couldn't respond because she knew; her stuttering betrayed her.

She ignored his comment. "And it's not as if I asked you to beat that poor bloke's lights out. You could have _very_ easily just taken me out in a civilized manner inste–"

"I was protecting you!"

"You were using this as an excuse to unleash your bottled up anger!" She screamed over him. "It was about you showing off your _manly_ self and being the knight in shining armor for a poor helpless girl wh–"

"Is that all you are then?" he interrupted her again. "You're just some random helpless girl?" Hermione frowned bewilderedly. "Who am I to you then, Hermione? What are we doing? What is _this?_" he gestured between the both of them. She didn't answer, her face holding an uncertain look. "Because it sure as hell didn't seem like I mean anything to you!"

His words echoed off the walls in the small apartment. Draco turned away from her and leaned on the kitchen counter. Hermione walked around him to the other side of the counter. "So I had a few drinks," she shrugged. "It was stupid to let my guard down so quickly, I know, but I was just trying to relax."

He snorted. "That's hardly the way."

"Don't play that card with me, Draco," Hermione rolled her eyes. "We both know you'll grab at any opportunity to get plastered in a heartbeat. Besides, I was coping! Everyone has different ways of dealing with their grief and mine was to just have some fun for _one night_."

"Where _I_ come from, people usually tend to deal with grief and have fun _with_ their significant others." Draco said bitterly. "But _you _prefer to do that with strange drunken Muggle men. And of course, _Potter _and _Weasley_." He spat their names.

Hermione's eyes widened. "They're my friends!"

"Really?" he asked her. "Weasley's just your _friend_?"

Subconsciously, she took a step backwards, her head shaking. "I _can't _believe we're back to this. _Ron_? You want to bring up _Ron_ now?"

He lifted himself off the counter, his tall frame looking down at her. "I don't see you denying it; you've _never _denied it!"

Holding her head in her hands, she sighed. "I don't understand how you could be so _jealous_; I have made it _perfectly _clear what my relationship with Ronald is! Will you stop being so immature about this?"

"I'm being immature?" he pointed to himself with a disbelieving look in his eyes. "How am _I_ being immature?"

"Y–"

"If anything, _I_ am the adult he–"

"Will you please,for once, just _let me finish_?" she yelled at him. It took all her power not to whip out her wand and silence him. "How can you be so insecure? Not _once _have I ever said anything about Ron or done _anything_ that should let you doubt my fidelity–"

"Is that so?" he interrupted her again, ignoring her previous cry, in a sarcastic tone. "You and that man in the bar were just looking to be _friends_?"

Hermione closed her eyes and sighed. "That has nothing to do with Ron."

"Forget Weasel; answer the question."

"Draco, I just found out my parents had _died. _I was just coping–"

"That's not coping!" He yelled, his eyes flashing with anger. "That's just an excuse for you to act like a slag for one night!"

Hermione recoiled, like he'd just slapped her.

"Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes Granger finally got tired of her books and thought she'd turn to something else, then?" Draco continued, his voice laced with sarcasm. "Is that what I was too? Just some bloke you can toy around with for your entertainment?"

Her mouth fell open slightly in shock. He hadn't spoken like this to her since Hogwarts and she had forgotten the harshness with which he spat his words at her.

"I'm sick of you." He ran his fingers through his blond hair. "I'm sick and tired of _all _of you! I don't know if the reason is that you spent all of your school life fighting with Potter and lost your chance at a proper adolescence or something–"

"Shut up," she said softly. "Just _shut up_."

Draco ignored her. "You all act like careless, hormonal teenagers!"

"That's because we _are_!" Hermione shouted over him. "So are you! Don't act like you're some mature, sophisticated, pureblooded bigot!" Tears threatened to spill out of Hermione's glistening eyes; she clenched her teeth.

"I–"

"You know, I really thought you had changed, but now I know; you'll always be the same cowardly, prejudiced Slytherin."

Draco glared at the countertop, refusing to meet her cold stare. "I _have_ changed. But my past isn't just going to vanish; it's constantly _haunting _me. Do you think I can ever look Lovegood in the eye without remembering trips I made down to the cellar to bring her scraps of food? I look at Potter, and all I see is him pulling me out of the fire that Crabbe started! I can barely look at _you_ without hearing your screams when my aunt tortured you!"

Hermione flinched. "Fine, then." She walked past him to the fireplace and stepped in with a fistful of powder.

She heard a tired sigh. "Where are you going?" he asked her exasperatedly. "I didn't mean tha–"

"I need to think," she said plainly and flooed back to her apartment.

...

Hermione sighed as she saw the light on in her kitchen.

"Ron?" she called out to the figure with his head in the fridge. No one else would be sitting in her kitchen late at night, finishing her food. But to her surprise, Harry's face appeared, holding a plate of cake in one hand. "Harry?"

Hermione turned on the lights in the living room and fell back on the couch. Harry sat down next to her, taking a bite of his cake.

"Now's not really a good time, Harry."

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I don't really have a choice; Ginny kicked me out and Ron's apartment smells like… well it smells bad."

"Why did Ginny kick you out?" Hermione sat up in concern.

"She's upset that I didn't tell her about Ron and Pansy. And loads of other reasons that she decided to bring up all of a sudden." Harry said in a bored voice. "Oh, and she's mad at you too."

"Oh great," she fell back on the couch again. "Thanks, for ratting me out, Harry. An angry Weasley is _just_ what I needed to make my night perfect" Hermione stood up and made her way to her room. "You can sleep on the couch tonight if you're not feeling Gryffindor enough to face the redhead."

"Thanks, Hermione." he mumbled from the couch. "What's wrong with you, anyway?" he called out to her as she pulled off her black dress in her room and slipped on her pajamas.

"In general? Or are you referring to a specific aspect?" Hermione said with a smirk as she walked back out in shorts and a baggy t-shirt and sat down on her kitchen stool. He gave her a look to which she replied, "I had a fight with Draco."

"Oh," Harry muttered. He scratched his head awkwardly. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked slowly.

"No. It's just that," she paused, trying to think of how to say it, "it was a big one. And our _first _one."

"Well," Harry grew more and more uncomfortable. "Isn't that like, a milestone?"

Hermione snorted derisively. "Did you celebrate your first fight with Ginny?"

"I don't even remember my first one; we have too many." He said with a smile.

Hermione grinned and sighed once again. "Maybe I just went into this too fast. Maybe I should have just stayed with Ron. But, seeing how's he's already getting cozy with _Parkinson_, that ship has definitely sailed. Ugh, what was I thinking?" she dropped her head down on the kitchen counter and groaned.

Harry walked to her and placed a comforting hand on her back. "You could just take a break." He suggested. "I mean you only really met him–the _new _him, that is– I don't know, when was that?"

"A little over two months ago," Hermione mumbled.

"Yeah," he nodded. "And it's only been like, three months since the war. Until that ended, the only problem we ever had to face was Voldemort; that's why all this feels so new to us."

Hermione shot her head up so fast, she felt dizzy. "Harry, maybe we should take a vacation."

"Um, we kind of have been, for a while now."

"No, we should leave London and take a _proper _holiday."

"But," Harry frowned. "My auror training starts on September first."

"We'll come back by then!"

"Yeah," Harry said, still not sounding convinced. "Maybe,"

Before Hermione had a chance to protest again, there was a flash of green flames in the fireplace. Ron stepped out, brushing soot off his shoulders.

"Hey guys," he greeted casually. "Harry what are you doing here?"

"Will you go talk to your sister?" Harry stood up and began pushing Ron back towards the fireplace. "She's already kicked me out because _you_ were idiotic enough to take Pansy out on a date!"

"How do _you_ know about that?" Ron smacked Harry's hands away. "Besides, it was a horrid night anyway. I can't believe I actually made it through dinner without turning her into a tea cozy; that would have made better company."

"That's brilliant," Harry said in a clipped tone. "Now go tell that to Ginny!" he gave a shove so Ron landed right in the fireplace. With a shrug, Ron grabbed a fistful of floo powder and yelled out "Number 12 Grimmauld Place!"

...

_Ding dong_

Hermione stumbled off her bed, rubbing her eyes and glancing at the clock; it was nearly nine. In a panic, she stood and pushed her frizzy hair off her face.

_Ding dong. Ding dong._

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she muttered as she walked to the door. Before she reached, she took a detour towards the couch where Harry stirred slightly. With one swift tug, Hermione pulled the blanket off him and his eyes flew open. Harry groaned as she bundled it up and threw it straight in his face.

"It's nine, Harry," she said as he fell back on the couch.

"Is that a decent way to wake people, 'Mione?" he complained.

_Ding dong._

"Alright!" she opened the door with a roll of her eyes but froze when she saw who was on the other side. "Draco,"

On the couch, Harry sat up with a jerk, his hair even messier than usual. Draco smirked at the sight of him and then eyed Hermione; his grin widened.

"Well, good morning,"

"Yes, Draco?" Hermione plastered a fake smile on her face.

"I wanted to talk to you," he leaned against the frame of her door. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

Hermione tilted her head. "You can talk from here."

"Okay," he nodded with amusement in his eyes. "I want to apologize for last night–"

"Don't," she said. "I was out of line too."

Draco opened his mouth to say something else but stopped, staring at something behind her. Hermione turned around to see Harry looking intently at their quiet exchange. With a distinct look from Hermione, he scurried towards the kitchen, ruffling up his messy hair even more.

Draco's hand went up to caress her arm. "I think that we might have moved too fast, Hermione." His voice was low and almost seductive; she fought the urge to swoon.

"I agree," she said, trying to subtly move away from his touch. She shifted her glance down, forcing herself not to look him in the eye. His beautiful silver eyes that she could just lose herself in–

"So, what do you say we start over?"

Hermione looked up at his expecting face with a frown. "No," she said simply.

"No? Just no?"

"We already did start over, Draco. Remember?" She continued when she saw the look on his face. "At the park two months ago?" He still looked just as confused as ever. "Let's see if this rings a bell. _Hi, I'm Draco Malfoy. Ex-death eater but I know I've changed since then so you can trust me_?"

"You remember the whole thing?"

"Draco, focus!"

"Sorry," he apologized quickly.

"The problem is that I don't know if I _can_ trust you." She said softly. "After the things you said last night, I feel like I don't _know _you."

"Hermione," he groaned as he pushed himself off the doorframe he'd been leaning on. "You're being melodramatic." He rolled his eyes which only made Hermione even madder.

She glimpsed behind her to where Harry was leaning on the kitchen counter, intently listening to every word. "I think we should take a break."

"A break?" Draco repeated.

"From each other." She finished with a nod. "We've been together twenty four seven for the past two months, so maybe we should spend some time apart."

Draco seemed to be at a loss for words. "Well, we're bound to run into each other eventually. It'll be really awkward and we know the media is going to blow things out of proportion–"

"I'm going on a vacation." She blurted out quickly.

Draco looked at her suspiciously. "Oh yeah? With who?" he challenged.

"Harry," she answered quickly.

"What?" Harry jerked at the mention of his name. A look from Hermione silenced him. "Y-yeah, sure. Holiday," he mumbled unenthusiastically.

"And Ron," she added. "Maybe Ginny,"

Harry snorted. "I doubt that. She's not very happy with _any_ of us at the moment."

"Well," Draco blinked. "Where are you going to go?"

She hesitated. "We're not sure yet; probably just travel around Europe." Hermione shrugged nonchalantly. "So, if you'll excuse us, we have some planning to do." She said, putting on a sugary sweet smile.

"Okay, then," Draco took a step backwards. "Goodbye, Hermione."

"Bye, Draco." She shut the door and turned towards Harry, giving him a guilty smile.

"So," he rolled his eyes. "Vacation, huh? At least Ron's going to be happy."

...

"You look ridiculous, Zabini,"

"No, I look professional." Blaise fixed his tie in front of the mirror. "Some of us actually have to make an effort to get jobs and money."

"Seriously? You have an inheritance the size of Hogwarts."

"You know, Malfoy?" Blaise turned around to face him. "You're nastier than usual today. Don't get me wrong; you haven't been much of a picnic the past month. But today is special."

"Shut up, Blaise." Draco drawled. "I only agreed to come with you to the ministry because I need to get papers signed by some ministry hag, not for your charming commentary and psychoanalysis on my behavior."

"Or maybe," Blaise ignored his friend. "You're uptight because it's finally September first, when all training at the ministry begins. I mean I'm sure you're quite wound up about _my_ first day at the magical law enforcement department, but _more_ because auror training is beginning and we _all _know that Potter is definitely participating in that. And if Harry is back from his little vacation, so is dear Hermione. And I rest my case, your honor." Blaise gave an exaggerated bow as they walked out the gates of his large manor. "I believe I'll do quite excellently in law enforcement."

"Are you finished?" Malfoy asked lazily. Blaise smirked at him and apparated with a loud _crack_ at the same time Draco did.

They entered the lift with Blaise chattering about something unimportant.

"Gosh, this is like entering Hogwarts again," he whispered to Draco. "Like being first years; bottom of the food chain."

"_Level two: Department of Magical Law Enforcement._" The voice said as the doors opened. Blaise and Draco walked out.

"Well then, this is where we part." Blaise waved as he walked towards the large conference room. "You can go corner Harry; the Auror office is over the–"

"I know where it is, Blaise." Draco snapped at him. "Good luck on your first day."

"Don't need it," Blaise smirked as he walked away confidently.

Draco took a deep breath and headed through the large glass doors. He'd never actually been in the auror office before so he simply went to the receptionist at the front. She told him that all the trainees were probably still in the locker room, seeing as the session didn't start for another ten minutes.

Thanking her, he made his way through the bustling office to the door in the corner which opened to a very loud room. He recognized most of the excited faces from his year and many of them turned to eye him suspiciously. Ignoring the stares, he found just who he was looking for.

"Potter," he called out as he walked towards him. Draco noticed him tense as he approached him at the locker. "How's it going?"

"Um," Harry busied himself by shoving his bag into his locker. "Fantastic. What exactly are you doing here?"

Draco hadn't really thought this far. Right now, his plan seemed severely flawed. What had he been thinking? Just approach him and ask about her whereabouts? Make casual small talk?

"I just wanted to ask you how your trip was." He could have smacked himself for choosing awkward small talk.

Harry looked like he could have smacked him too. "It was brilliant. We went all around; Spain, Italy, Greece, France. Well, you get the picture."

Draco nodded, feeling incredibly ill at ease. "So you're joining the auror academy?"

"Well, I'm in the locker room for auror trainees, so you can presume what you wish."

"Right, right," Malfoy stuffed his hands into his pockets. "And Weasley?"

"He's working as a manager at the Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Look, Malfoy, I'm going to be late." Harry began walking to the door where most people had already left.

"What about Hermione?"

The question was out. Draco wanted to sigh in relief that he'd finally managed to ask. Harry froze in his tracks for a split second but continued immediately after.

"She wants to be a healer," he said simply.

Draco nodded as he walked with Harry. "So she's doing a fellowship, then? In St. Mungo's?"

This time, Harry stopped completely, and turned to face him. "Here's the thing," he said. "There's a quite renowned Magical hospital in France called St. Antoine Hospital and while we were in Paris, Hermione applied for a fellowship." Harry studied Draco's face. "And she got accepted."

Draco didn't know why he had bothered to hope she wouldn't get in. It was Hermione Granger; of course she would be accepted. "Hermione's in Paris," he said slowly. Harry glanced to the right, where the large conference room was nearly full.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy," he actually sounded sincere. "I have to go."

"R-right, yeah," Draco watched as Harry walked away, still thinking about what he'd just said. She was taking a fellowship in St. Antoine Hospital, Paris. And from what he knew, a fellowship was four years long.

"_I think we should take a break,"_

Her words came flooding back to him. Draco had no idea that when Hermione said break, she'd meant four years.


	12. Time Heals All Wounds Sometimes

**Here it is! The next chapter =) I got the sudden drive to write after the SEVENTH MOVIE CAME OUT. Who hasn't watched it yet? You will be shunned. (just kidding) This is a slightly shorter chapter, but I hope you like it all the same.**

**Huge shoutout and thanks to my AMAZING FANTABULOUSERIFFIC BRILLIANT BETA (YOU ROCK RAE) who has to deal with my pitiful grammar and awkwardness.**

**Make sure to leave a review (virtual hugs and kisses to everyone who reviews) Enjoy!**

**...**

**Previously on Choices:**

"_I had a fight with Draco." Hermione told Harry. "It was a big one. And our first one."_

…

"_Will you go talk to your sister?" Harry stood up and began pushing Ron back towards the fireplace. "She's already kicked me out because you were idiotic enough to take Pansy out on a date!"_

"_It was a horrid night anyway," said Ron. "I can't believe I actually made it through dinner without turning her into a tea cozy; that would have made better company."_

…

"_The problem is that I don't know if I can trust you." Hermione said softly to Draco. "After the things you said last night, I feel like I don't know you. I think we should take a break."_

_Draco seemed to be at a loss for words. "Well, we're bound to run into each other eventually. It'll be really awkward and we know the media is going to blow things out of proportion–"_

"_I'm going on a vacation." She blurted out quickly. "With Harry. And Ron," she added._

…

"_Here's the thing, Malfoy," said Harry. "There's a quite renowned Magical hospital in France called St. Antoine Hospital and while we were in Paris, Hermione applied for a four year fellowship." Harry studied Draco's face. "And she got accepted."_

"_Hermione's in Paris," Draco said slowly. "For four years."_

_..._

"Nice work today, everyone. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning for our weekend drills." Auror Jenkins said as the trainees made their way back to the locker room.

"Hey, Harry!" McLaggen called out, catching up with Harry. "Got any plans for a Friday night? Nott, a couple of the girls, and I are going out for a drink. You want to come?"

Harry looked over at Theodore Nott's sneering face apprehensively. "Thanks, but no thanks," he replied quickly. "I have plans, actually"

"It's Friday night boys; he's got to call his girlfriend in Paris." Alicia Spinnet said, coming up beside them and like it was the most obvious thing in the world. With a teasing smile, she asked, "Don't you, Harry?"

"_Ginny_, is in London, Alicia." He told her harshly. "But Ron and I are going to call _Hermione_."

"Granger, huh?" Cormac's head tilted curiously. "How is she doing? Is she still on with that Malfoy bloke?" The gleam in his eyes reminded Harry distinctly of sixth year and of Hermione's disheveled appearance at Slughorn's party. Instead of answering, he busied himself by taking his bag out of his locker.

"That was a _year_ ago, Cormac," Parvati, who had suddenly come to join the group trying to make Harry Potter as uncomfortable as possible, answered. "Do keep up. She was too much of a _coward_ to break up with the poor lad, so she simply left the country."

Slinging his bag on his shoulder, Harry turned to look Parvati in the eye, his expression fierce. "Hermione's _not_ a coward."

"Well, sounds to me like she's making quite an impression on you too." Alicia jumped in. "I'd watch out if I were you or she just might–"

"Don't you pathetic lot have anything better to do than harass the boy? Leave him alone, you vultures." Katie Bell's voice came from behind them. Harry gave them one last thunderous look before turning around. "Come on, Harry," she took his arm and walked out of the room, the sound of Parvati and Alicia's laughter ringing in his ears.

"Thanks, Katie," he said gratefully as they walked to the lift together.

"No problem," she said with a smile. "They can be real pests."

"Yeah," he nodded. "It used to just be the girls, but Cormac's suddenly found it amusing. They've been after me all year for some reason."

"Picking on Hermione?"

"Not just her; all the Weasleys too, and even Luna. I don't know what their problem is, but they seem adamant on making my life miserable." Harry shook his head.

"Ah, don't fret," Katie patted him on the back. "They're just jealous because you're one of the greatest aurors in training the department's seen in years. Not to mention Alicia's a repeater." Harry blushed slightly and Katie laughed. "Don't let them smack you around; you're Harry Potter, remember?"

Harry laughed. "Yes, but I do try my best not to wear that name around like a crown unless it's _absolutely _necessary." He glanced at his watch. "Is it seven thirty already? I need to get down to Hogsmeade and meet Ron at the joke shop. I'll see you around, then?"

Katie waved as she walked away and Harry turned on the spot.

...

Harry walked into the store to hear a heated argument coming from upstairs. He slowly walked up the steps and the voices became clearer.

"I pay you, Ron! Could you at least make the _slightest_ effort?"

"I work on minimum wage, George. And what is the big deal? It was _one_ time!"

"You didn't lock up properly! I could have been robbed! This store is _all_ I have Ron why can't you just respect the rules I've set and– Harry!" George's face broke into a smile as he saw him. "What are you–? Oh, right, it's Friday night. I'll leave you guys then."

"You don't have to leave, George," Harry said quickly, a guilty feeling settling in.

"Nah, it's alright. Just tell Hermione I said hi," said George as he made his way down. "Lock up properly this time, Ron," he gave his little brother a glare.

"He's been more uptight than usual recently," Ron said as soon as George had left the shop. "Maybe the stress is getting to him because we're going to be opening branches of the shop around Europe very soon. He keeps going on and on about how this store is _all_ he has."

Harry simply nodded, not having the energy to explain to Ron to read between the lines. Both of them sat down on the couches that were set up in front of the fireplace, waiting in silence.

Then, her face popped up in the fire, looking flustered.

"Sorry I'm late, guys," she said. "It's been a _crazy _night. I'll have to make this quick too because my other shift begins very soon."

"Nice to see you too, Hermione," Ron said dejectedly.

"How have you been?" Harry asked.

"_Really _busy," Hermione said. "There have been people coming in all night with freak accidents. Not to mention I had a big practical this morning in class, so I still smell like dead people," Harry and Ron scrunched up their noses in disgust. "Oh sod off, it's not that bad. I just had to dissect part of the kidney and–"

Ron made a gagging noise to cut her off. "That's enough detail."

Harry was frowning too. "Did you cut it open with your wand?"

"No, Harry," she rolled her eyes. "Imagine me _cutting_ into your kidney with my _wand._"

"That would be comforting," Ron mumbled.

"It's impossible to get proper precision using a wand; we use scalpels just like Muggles." Hermione finished. "How's auror training going, Harry?"

He shrugged. "The same old, I guess,"

"Are they still picking on you?" Hermione asked like a concerned mother. Harry's expression spoke for itself. "Who is it _now_?"

"Alicia and Parvati are still at it, but McLaggen is in now too." Hermione shuddered at the mention of Cormac, the memory of him under the mistletoe still fresh in her mind.

"Come on, Mate. You're Harry Potter!" Ron said. "Just throw in names like Voldemort and Kingsley, and give them a bit of that _scar _action, and they'll be running off to their mummies in no time!" he exclaimed.

The three of them roared with laughter. Hermione turned to Ron. "So, Ron. What about you? I heard the joke shop is going international."

"How do _you_ know that?"

"I'm in Paris, Ron. Your shop's opening here in a month, remember? Besides, it's all anyone can talk about around here." Hermione explained. "I'm proud of you, Ron. You and George have come a long way this past year!"

Ron smiled smugly. "Yeah, well, business has been really great."

"And what about you and Pansy?" Hermione said, holding back her laughter.

"We're doing great too," Ron said with a glare. "She's a _great _girl."

"_No_, she's not." Harry said. "She's shallow, clingy, and frankly, not very pretty at all." Hermione raised her eyebrows at Harry's brutal honestly. "I'm sorry," he said. "I think I deserved the right to say that after Ginny and I were forced to spend an evening with her as Ron thought it might be a good idea to double date."

"Ouch," Hermione winced.

"Plus," Harry added. "She's a Slytherin."

"Wha-how come you never had such a problem with Malfoy then?"

Hermione froze. Harry shifted uncomfortably and glanced awkwardly at the face in the fire. It was a while before anyone broke the silence.

"How is he?" Hermione asked softly.

Harry shrugged. "I only know what I do from the papers, and apparently he's doing quite well with his father's company. Ginny's taken to spending a lot more time with him these days, though." He added bitterly.

Ron clenched his teeth. "The stupid git is trying to seduce my sister."

"No, he's not, Ron." Harry sighed. "We've been over this."

"Ron, I'm sure they're just friends," said Hermione. "Okay, back to the original topic. Ron, why are you _still _withPansy?"

Ron sputtered defensively. "I actually _like_ her! I-do we really need to discuss this?"

"Fine, then." Hermione said curtly. "Does Ginny have night practice today, Harry?"

"I-I" Harry stuttered. "I don't know; I assume so." At the sight of Hermione and Ron's puzzled face, he said, "We don't really talk to each other very often."

"What is the matter with us?" Hermione looked at the both of them with wide eyes. "Can none of us keep a functional relationship anymore? I'm not counting you and Pansy in this Ron." Ron leaned back on his chair with a sulky face.

"It's been a rough year, Hermione. You weren't really here for it, but it's been difficult for all of us trying to get our lives back on track." Harry snapped at her. He sighed when he saw the hurt look in her eyes. "Look, can we not talk about this?"

Hermione nodded and looked down, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. This time it was Ron that broke the tension. "You're coming to the reunion next weekend, right?"

"I don't think so," Hermione said with a nervous laugh.

"But you have to!" Harry sat up. "Everyone from our year's going to be there, and Hagrid and McGonagall,"

"It's not going to be a proper Hogwarts Reunion if the three of us aren't there together!" Ron joined in.

"I don't know, guys," she said uncertainly. "I'm probably going to be busy. Why are the two of _you_ so intent on it? You do know it's a _ball_, right? Last I remember, the both of you have two left feet."

"It's not about the dancing, Hermione. It's the fact that you've been France for a _whole _year. No one has seen you for so long. _We _haven't seen you since last September. The least you could do is show up for one ball!" Ron yelled.

"Alright, alright," Hermione tried to yell over him. "But Harry, you're going with Ginny. Ron's going with Pansy, but I don't have date. Who am I going to find to go with last minute?"

...

"I _told _you I can find you a date in no time. That's not the issue here." Ginny took her coffee and went to their usual table.

"Fine," he snapped. "The issue is that _I don't want to go_. Why can't you just leave me be?"

"Because, if I did, Draco, then you would still be brooding under your blankets in the manor." She stated matter-of-factly.

"Let it go, Weasley." He groaned. "It was _one time_."

"Never," she grinned evilly. "But that's not the point; my point is that you need to get out there! And I'm not talking about the drunken slags you pick up at the bar; I'm saying you need a proper, functional, stable relationship."

Draco shoved a forkful of cake into his mouth. "You know," he said, his mouth still slightly full, "You keep saying these things as if I'm actually going to do them. It's rather amusing really."

Ginny reached over the table and smacked him on the arm. "I'm _serious. _You're going to the reunion and _I _am going to find you an _excellent_ date and the both of you will dance the night away under the romantic stars of Hogwarts." Ginny smiled dreamily. "It's ingenious."

Malfoy sipped his coffee and glared at her over the plastic lid. She glared back.

"Fine," he sighed and Ginny leaned back in her chair smugly. "But she better be well fit," he mumbled just loud enough for her to hear.

"Don't worry, you shallow bastard." Ginny rolled her eyes. "Your name sends streets of screaming girls into frenzy; I'm _sure_ I'll find you someone of your standards."

"Mmm," Draco nodded, but he wasn't listening anymore. His eyes were trailing the blonde girl that had just walked in to the coffee shop. Ginny frowned in confusion, and looked back, following Draco's eyes to the woman who had now noticed the obvious staring. Draco looked down with a sigh. "Don't turn around, Ginny," he muttered, embarrassed.

He looked up to see a look of anger and disgust in the redhead's eyes, but only for a fleeting second. Draco was distracted by the blonde girl who was now eyeing him quite the same way he was; his trademark smirk made its way to his lips.

"You're foul," Ginny shook her head and stood up, holding her coffee. With her other hand, she tugged on his arm and pulled him off his seat.

"At least let me-"

"Shut it," she said as she dragged him out of the coffee shop almost effortlessly. Once they were outside, she smacked him across the back of his head. "I thought we had a deal; no more of _that_ when you're with me."

He shrugged, brushing invisible soot of his shirt. "_Fine_,"

"Thank you," They walked down the street leading to Grimmauld Place.

"Wouldn't even let me finish my bloody cake," he muttered, earning himself another smack across the head.

...

Draco fixed his tie, still grumbling at the mirror. _Why did he always let Ginny get the better of him when he knew it would end badly? _He glanced at the door, expecting someone to step in obtrusively; Blaise's discourteous and joking manner always comforted him, although he would never tell him that. But of course, Blaise was picking up Lovegood, and would meet him at the reunion.

"I can't _babysit _you all the time, Draco," he had told him; Draco had glared at his smirking face.

Tucking his wand into his coat pocket, Draco stood at his doorway. _There's still time; you don't need to go._ Against his mind's wishes, his feet moved him forward, and with a sigh, he turned on the spot.

"Three Broomsticks," she'd told him. "I'll tell her you can meet there and you can walk down to Hogwarts together."

"_Who?_ Will you please just tell me who it is?"

Ginny snorted. "_I_ don't even know yet; how am I supposed to tell _you?_" Draco narrowed his eyes at her to which she rolled her eyes. "My life does not _revolve_ around you, Draco."

"Yes it does," he said. "Will you please just find someone before I'm left with a troll? Or I just won't come."

"Shut up, I will get someone." She shoved his arm.

Draco stepped into the Three Broomsticks and took a quick look around. He saw groups of people that were clearly dressed for the ball and meeting. Suffice to say, he didn't recognize any of them; they were probably Hufflepuffs.

Sneering at the thought, he noticed the lone girl standing with her back turned, leaning against the bar. From the look of her from the back, he really hoped that was who Ginny had found. Her hair was a soft brown which was slightly wavy and ended just above her shoulders. She had her elbow propped on the bar and chin resting on her hand.

He walked closer and cleared his throat as he stood right behind her. She whirled around with a wide eyes and a huge smile on her face.

They froze.

He stared at the face he hadn't seen in a year, the face he'd tried and succeeded in forgetting after so long.

"_You_!" He finally shouted, his expression a mixture of shock and anger.

"Draco," she whispered in alarm. Her smile dropped instantly and she glanced to her side nervously. "I-I–"

"What are you even doing here?" he asked coldly.

"I-I came for th-the reunion," she stuttered, more uneasy than ever. "I just–"

"Just stay out of my way, Granger," he cut her off. She took a deep breath, her eyes filled with a bit of hurt, but mostly what looked like pity. _Pity._ He did _not_ need Granger's _pity_. He turned away from her and leaned on the bar himself, cursing Ginny for choosing a date who lacked punctuality.

As he waited though, he couldn't help glancing to the left to see that Granger was looking very pale and panicked. She'd cut her hair and straightened it slightly; it looked good, but he wouldn't tell her that. Her hands drummed on the bar anxiously as her eyes wandered around.

"So," she said. "Are you waiting for someone?"

He wanted to groan; this was not a person he wanted to have a conversation with. But, he grudgingly realized that if he didn't, it would seem as though he wasn't over it. "Yeah," he muttered. "I was set up by a friend."

"With who?"

"I don't know," he mumbled, praying that she would, for once, stay quiet.

"I was set up by a friend too," she kept her tone conversational.

"Do I look like I _care_, Granger?" he said, still refusing to look at her. He could imagine the hurt-filled eyes.

But to his surprise, she ignored his comment. "She didn't tell me who it was either."

Uncomfortable silence fell between them once again, until he heard a muttering beside him.

"Oh no," she was saying. "No _way_." When he turned to her, she was looking at him with wide fearful eyes. It didn't take him long to catch onto what she was implying.

"No, Granger," he said slightly louder. "No way; she's not _that_ stupid."

"Except she _might_ be," said Hermione.

They both narrowed their eyes at each other, before saying in unison, "_Ginny_!"

...

E/N: LOVED IT. Brilliant idea of having Ginny setting them up with each other :D Just a bit of awkward language but besides that it was pure and utter Susan brilliantness :) Update soon, love you and miss you. Your sister (from another mister), Rae 3


	13. Never Too Late

**A/N Hey everybody =] Yes, it has indeed been a while but apparently, High School is turning out to be difficult. Strange right? I hope you enjoy this (because it took multiple trials to get it right) and my beta (RAE MY LOVE, I WOULD BE LOST AND VICTIM TO THE HORRID WRACKSPURTS IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU) who has to deal with my awkwardness and grammar issues. **

**If any of you would be interested, I posted a special Christmas Oneshot which you can find on my profile page. It's called "Where the Story Ends"**

**Disclaimer: No I don't own anything remotely Harry Potter related except for the plot of this story.**

**Read and review please =] Virtual mooncakes to all those who review (in the spirit of Chinese New Year)**

**...**

**Previously on Choices:**

"_So," she said. "Are you waiting for someone?"_

"_Yeah," he muttered. "I was set up by a friend."_

"_I was set up by a friend too," she kept her tone conversational._

"_Do I look like I care, Granger?" said Draco, still refusing to look at her. He could imagine the hurt-filled eyes._

_But to his surprise, she ignored his comment. "She didn't tell me who it was either."_

…

"_Oh no," she kept repeating. "No way." When he turned to her, she was looking at him with wide fearful eyes. It didn't take him long to catch onto what she was implying._

_They both narrowed their eyes at each other, before saying in unison, "Ginny!"_

_..._

Draco pushed open the door and stormed out onto the street with Hermione at his heels.

"Draco, wait!" she called out to him.

He ignored her and continued walking in the opposite direction of everyone else. The streets of Hogsmeade were crowded with people all dressed and walking towards Hogwarts. Some girls rushed to each other and hugged as if they hadn't met in years and guys exchanged awkward handshakes and small talk.

Through the throngs of people, he saw a flash of red; his eyes turned murderous.

Of course, she was walking with boy-wonder and laughing at something he was saying. Draco pushed through the mass of people with Hermione still behind him, calling after him.

The look in her eyes when she saw him was priceless; her eyes grew wide and she looked on either sides of her, searching for an escape. Draco took her arm and pulled her out of the crowd roughly.

"This isn't even _slightly_ funny, Weasley." He glared daggers at Ginny who pulled her arm out of his grasp.

Hermione finally caught to him breathlessly. "Harry!" she exclaimed excitedly, attacking him with a tight hug. He stumbled backwards slightly but hugged her back.

Hermione hugged Ginny eagerly as well and Draco couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"I _hate_ to break up this wonderful moment," Draco drawled, "but there is a serious situation for which I may have to feed you to the peacocks in the Malfoy Garden, Weasley."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Watch it, Malfoy,"

"Peacocks?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"How could you even _consider_ that this would be even somewhat appropriate? Or is this your idea of some twisted joke?" Draco spat at her, but she didn't falter even slightly.

Instead, Ginny pulled him further aside, away from Harry and Hermione.

"Listen, I _may_ have lied when I said your name sends streets of girls screaming." Ginny told him, looking just a bit sheepish, "Well, it turns out that there aren't too many girls who are willing to go out with an ex-Deatheater."

Draco clenched his teeth. "So _this_ was the solution?"

"You wouldn't have come without a date, and neither would she, and it was just the most convenient!" she protested.

"Convenience? This was about _convenience_?" His voice carried to where Harry and Hermione stood awkwardly.

"Did you know about this?" Hermione asked Harry who shook his head.

"We don't really talk about Malfoy," he said. "It's an uncomfortable topic."

They heard the voices rise more as Draco and Ginny continued to fight.

"I'm leaving; I _refuse_ to spend the night with _her_ as my date!"

Ginny shushed him. "She's _right there_, you tactless d–"

"You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Don't be so petty, Draco." She rolled her eyes at him. "Shut it!" She didn't let him speak. "You are going to walk into that hall with Hermione Granger next to you, you are going to be civil and act like an adult, and don't tell me you are going home because the media has already caught sight of you and if you leave now, you can expect countless conspiracies about you involving Hermione in the Prophet tomorrow morning."

That was it; Draco looked defeated. He had had enough of the theories and mindless tales the media enjoyed spinning about him, each one more ridiculous than the previous. At one point, someone had written that he was a half Giant taking a shrinking potion daily; when Hermione had found out, she'd run off, repulsed.

"You know I'm right, Draco." Ginny crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. "So just hurry up and sullenly agree."

If looks could kill, Ginny would have been lying on the ground convulsing in pain, because at that moment, Draco felt that even murder wasn't enough. Wordlessly, he stalked back towards Harry and Hermione, his hands buried in his pockets and a scowl on his face. Ginny simply smirked and followed behind him, only to be pulled aside once again by a very troubled-looking Hermione.

But before she could even speak, Ginny cut her off. "Oh, don't you complain _one bit_ about this."

"This isn't about me, Ginny, it's about him! What were you thinking?"

"I had no choice; I had to get him out this hole he's dug himself into. There were no other girls willing to come with him and he _had _to come."

"Ginny," Hermione half-whined. "What am I going to say to him?"

"Whatever it was you were too much of a coward to say to him before!" Hermione looked like she was about to cry, but Ginny ignored it. "I did this especially because of what you told me last week; if you are indeed going to go through with that, you need to get used to this." Hermione shushed her.

"I haven't told anyone else yet, Gin; keep it down!"

Ginny ignored her. "You are going to go in there with him, and do whatever it takes to make this right, because _you_ are _Hermione Granger_."

Without waiting for Hermione to respond, Ginny walked back to Harry, who looked incredibly uncomfortable having been left alone with Malfoy.

"Well, that's hardly a valid reason for anything," Hermione muttered crossly. She noticed Malfoy give Ginny one last glower before walking off ahead; Hermione took a deep breath and followed behind him.

Ginny slipped her hand into Harry's, watching the couple walk ahead, nearly a meter apart from each other.

"Was this really the only option you had?" Harry asked her.

"Of course not," Ginny told him with a playful glint in her eyes. "Girls were lining up for Malfoy; I just thought this would be loads more interesting."

...

"Has anyone seen the great savior of the Wizarding World and my idiot brother?" Ginny asked tiredly as she walked to the silent table where Hermione sat sipping her drink and attempting to make small talk with Draco who chose to mostly respond with monosyllabic replies and shrugs. Luna was, as usual, oblivious to the tension and spoke to Blaise in a dreamy tone; Blaise struggled to concentrate on what she was saying because he was trying his best not to laugh at his best friend's situation. "Pansy can't find Ron either," Ginny added, wrinkling her nose slightly at the mention of Parkinson.

"Last I saw them, they were talking to Hagrid and McGonagall," said Hermione with a sigh. "I haven't seen them since; they must have gone to the loo or something."

"Together?" Ginny asked incredulously. "Now I _know_ I should be worried."

Everyone laughed, except for Draco, though Hermione caught a glimpse of a smirk on his face for less than a second.

"Well, everybody in this _room_ is looking for Harry, so I think I should go search for them before they're cornered by fan girls, or something." Ginny said with a sigh and strolled very unenthusiastically through the crowd.

There was silence once again at the table.

"Well, I'm parched," Draco sat up in his chair, about to stand, when Hermione put a hand on his arm; he jerked as if it had burned him.

Trying not to look dejected, she said, "I'll go get us some drinks." Hermione got up and walked to the large buffet table, stopping to talk to Professor Vector, her old arithmancy teacher. While speaking, she glanced over to where Draco sat, and saw Pansy Parkinson sitting in her seat, having a conversation with Draco where he seemed to be actually listening and replying; her teeth clenched as she felt herself hold back tears.

Professor Vector certainly had become chattier than before; Hermione finally managed to excuse herself. She took a deep breath, telling herself that she'd only stay a little bit longer.

As she stood at the edge of the buffet table, Hermione felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see who it was but found nobody. Looking around in confusion, she felt a grip on her arm which pulled her behind a pillar.

"Hey!" She cried as she stumbled. Someone pulled her forwards and suddenly, she was staring at two faces. "What the–Ron? Harry?"

"Do you know how long it took us to get you alone?" Ron complained.

Hermione sighed, crouched in an awkward position. "I should have known you'd bring the cloak, Harry."

"Old habits die hard," he shrugged.

"Now let's get out of here," said Ron.

"What? We can't just _leave_ Ron." Hermione frowned at him.

"I didn't mean leave the _castle_; just the Great Hall."

"We're not supposed to, Ron."

Harry and Ron both stared at her as if she'd grown a second head and Hermione tried to rephrase her thought. "Okay, I understand that's not a legitimate reason for us but–"

"But what?" Ron interrupted her. "Do you really want to stand here all night with people you don't even know coming up to you saying 'You three did a _wonderful_ job saving the Wizarding world'? I mean, not to say we _didn't _do a brilliant job." He added and Hermione rolled her eyes. "We've already met everyone we want to, so unless you want to stand in misery for the rest of the night, let's go have some _real _fun."

Hermione glanced between him and Harry, who gave her an imploring look.

"You boys are incorrigible."

"Yes!" Ron and Harry said in unison. "Now let's make our way out of here," Harry craned his neck, looking for an easy route.

"There are three of us under one cloak; can someone explain to me how this is going to work?" Hermione asked skeptically.

"It's going to be uncomfortable, but there's smoke all across the floor; it's alright if our feet stick out." Harry began leading the way, squeezed inelegantly between Ron and Hermione.

"Ouch, Ron, that was my foot."

"Hermione, your hair!"

"Harry, are those fingernails or claws?"

With a lot more trouble, they finally made it out of the Great Hall, clumsily stumbling over each other's feet until Harry threw the cloak off. Laughing, they glanced backwards once before running down the corridor, just like old times.

...

"Oh, come on! It's not like we're strangers!" Ron whined. The fat lady gave them a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Although I doubt it, you may be imposters; therefore I am not permitted under any circumstances to let you in."

"Let's try guessing the password." Harry told them. "It's got to be something to do with–" he trailed off, having no clue.

"Uh," Hermione grimaced in thought. "House unity?"

The fat lady gave her an eager smile. "Close," she urged.

"Oh, something close to 'house unity'!" Hermione said excitedly.

"Lemon drops?" Harry asked suddenly. Ron, Hermione and the fat lady all look at him with similar expressions.

"What does that have to do with house unity?" Hermione snapped at him.

"I don't know!" he said defensively. "Something to do with Dumbledore? It was just a guess."

"Golden trio?" Ron looked away from Harry and back to the portrait.

It was now Ron's turn to be stared at. "What? We are quite idolized," he said matter-of-factly.

Hermione scoffed. "Please, Ronald, if your head grows any larger, there won't be room for anyone else in the castle anymore." Harry chuckled however the fat lady wasn't amused, instead she looked impatient.

Before they could spit out another random guess, the portrait door swung wide open, with three Gryffindors on the other side, frozen in their tracks. They looked to be second years–one girl and two boys–who clearly did not have the best intentions while leaving the common room.

Ron shrugged. "Works for me," he mumbled and pushed past them, into the common room. Harry followed behind him.

It was Hermione though, we looked at her watch. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked the three students. "It's way past curfew."

They took cautious steps backwards into the common room as she walked in, shutting the portrait door behind her, and sat down on the sofa in front of the fireplace with her two best friends.

The girl spoke first. "Y-you're Harry Potter," she stuttered. The boys swallowed, their eyes still wide.

Harry groaned softly. "No, no I'm not."

"Yes you are," she insisted. "You've got the scar and everything!"

Harry sighed. "I really should put a concealment charm on that thing," he muttered to himself while Ron snorted.

"My dad talks about you loads," one of the boys said breathlessly.

"I'm sure he does," Harry mumbled.

"That's enough," Hermione jumped to his rescue. "Get back to bed."

The girl walked up one of the staircases while the two boys, whispering to each other animatedly, walked up the other. Hermione smiled.

"Did they remind you of–"

"Us?" Harry finished her sentence. "Yeah, they did; up to no good." They laughed, reminiscing of all the times they had snuck out using Harry's cloak and map.

"By the way, guys," Hermione started. "I'd been meaning to talk about something with you about my fellowship in Par–"

"Hey, I brought my map with me too!" Harry said suddenly, sitting up.

Hermione stopped midsentence, her mouth still slightly open. Instead of saying anything, she decided to simply wait. "Harry, you _do_ realize that we're no longer students here, don't you? No one is going to throw you in detention if you're caught in the halls past curfew." Hermione said amusedly.

"No, I was thinking that we should hide it somewhere in the castle." He said slowly, pulling the map out of his pocket.

Hermione frowned in confusion, but Ron sat up as well. "So only the next mischief makers would be able to find it!"

"Exactly!" The three of them rushed out of the common room, waving to the fat lady as they ran down the corridor and up the moving staircases.

...

Ginny slumped down in a chair next to Pansy, sulking. Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

"Have you realized that all our dates have disappeared?" she told both of them, picking up the closest glass on the table to drink.

"Hey!" Pansy tried to get her glass back from Ginny, only succeeding once it was empty. "Potter and Ron vanished a while back," she said with a longing sigh. "Now even Granger's gone?"

Ginny nodded while Draco said, "She went to get us drinks but never returned." He smirked. "I'm used to it; she has a habit of doing that. Just leaves and doesn't come back, without giving even the _slightest_ notice." Draco noticed the two girls staring at him. "What?"

"You sound pathetic, Malfoy," said Ginny.

"Stop drowning yourself in pity," Pansy added. "It's disgusting."

"I'm not pathetic; you are the ones _pining_ for your dates, feeling sorry for yourselves because they ditched you."

They were silent; that was what they were doing. The three of them looked out at the people on the dance floor, enjoying themselves and laughing as if they were having the best time of their lives. He even saw Luna, spinning in a circle and waving her hands in front of her in some kind of bizarre dance, with Blaise by her side, scratching his head and looking from side to side uncomfortably.

The three of them looked utterly miserable, just sitting at the table in silence. Draco stood up suddenly.

"You lot can sit here and weep pitifully for all I care, but I'm not going to." With that, Draco walked away, towards the giant oak doors of the great hall.

...

After hiding the map in a corner of the room of requirement which even they wouldn't be able to find again, they stood in silence, pondering over what the next generation would be like. Who would be the troublemakers who find that map?

"Quidditch grounds?" Ron broke the silence.

"Yeah, let's go!" Harry began walking down the steps with both Ron and Hermione following behind.

"You guys go on ahead," Hermione told them. "I think I'll head to the library."

"Okay, we'll meet you there," Harry said as they half jogged around the corner.

Hermione strolled slowly through the dark halls, stopping by classrooms, remembering what lessons she had. The library was locked and simple charms didn't work on it, so Hermione was forced to just look in from the outside thoughtfully, recalling the countless hours she spent in here researching the crazy dark magic the encountered year after year.

All of it seemed a distant memory, almost like a dream. Their lives had since then become increasingly ordinary; of course, she was relieved to finally not have to fear her life with every step, but some part of her yearned for the adventures they had together and the excitement that came with it.

She walked down towards the dungeons and looked into the potions classroom; if someone had told her three years ago that she would actually miss Snape and his classes, she would have sent them to St. Mungo's for a checkup.

Hermione walked into the class and sat down on one of the tables at the back, facing empty vials lined up across the back counter. She wasn't sure how long she sat there for, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to leave.

"I really miss him sometimes," a familiar voice from behind her said.

She turned to find Draco casually leaning against the doorframe, looking at the empty board.

"He was a good man," Hermione said softly.

"He was a _great _man; the closest thing I ever had to a father." Draco corrected her. "If only I had understood what he had been trying to tell me. By the time I did, it was already too late." Draco walked in and sat down on one of the desks, his back to her. "He once told me that people are gifted with the power to choose; it's the most wonderful but dangerous thing in the world."

Hermione tilted her head curiously at him. She'd always known Draco was close to Snape, but never once did she realize just how much his death would have affected him; the feeling of guilt suddenly swept over her.

"He said that sometimes though, people are thrown into something with what seems to be no choice or free will of their own, but that's not true; no matter what, there's always a choice." He paused, taking a deep breath. "You just have to be willing to take it." He added so softly, Hermione had to strain to hear.

"Of course, then I'd told him to nip it and leave me alone," Draco shrugged with a slight smirk. "But it wasn't until I saw you three in the manor, that I really understood what he meant."

Hermione felt her whole body tense; her screams echoed in her head. She pushed it to the back of her mind, and focused on the blonde boy sitting ahead of her.

"Everybody makes mistakes in their lives," Hermione spoke after a long moment of silence. "It's all about fixing them."

Draco chuckled humorlessly. He finally turned around to face her. "Funny how things work out for me," he said. "When I try to fix all the mistakes I've ever made, it somehow all comes back and bites me in the arse." He continued to laugh dryly, staring at Hermione in a way that made her shift uncomfortably.

"Draco," she said softly. "I'm really _sorry_. You have to understand that I was upset over what you said–"

"I apologized for that,"

"–and I was angry–"

"So was I,"

"–at that moment," Hermione spoke over him. "I felt like it was stupid for us to even _consider_ we could be anything more than acquaintances; I mean, what were we thinking?" She got off the table where she was sitting and took a few steps towards him. "It suddenly hit me when we were Paris and it was all just too much to handle."

"Bollocks," Draco narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't quite know why, but he was thoroughly enjoying the bickering; he'd missed this. "You've handled situations much more overwhelming and intense in your life; I'm positive of that."

"That's just it, Draco," she said to him desperately. "I realized that perhaps I need a few _normal _and _unexciting_ years until I can pull my life back together; with you, I had no _chance_ of doing that."

"I don't understand what you're trying to sa–"

"You called me a mudblood for seven years. I was tortured in your Manor. You and your _friends_ tried to kill Harry, Ron and I in the room of requirement!"

"Okay, I thought we had previously established that I was a mindless, blinded, cowardly, pureblooded moron. And I had absolutely no intention of slaughtering anyone anywhere at any point in time, Granger; I honestly never attempted to kill you. _Ever_."

"But no matter how hard I try, Draco, I can't just snap my fingers and forget all the history in a single moment; it took some time. Approximately a year, to be more precise." She added.

"So, no notice?" Draco raised his eyebrows. "Not even a floo? 'Hey Draco, the Chudley Cannons had quite a play last night, didn't they? Oh and by the way, I'm going to Paris for four years.'"

"I just thought that if I spoke to you, it would become dreadfully awkward, or you'd try to talk me out of it–"

"Talk you out of it?" he said disbelievingly. "I think you flatter yourself too much, woman; I would have let you go in a heartbeat. I just didn't want to hear the news from _boy wonder_ in the Auror locker room."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort back, but she closed it with a huff instead. "You know what, Draco?" she said through clenched teeth. "You'll always be a loathsome_ pig._"

"Glad to know," He gave her a fake smile. "Now I'll be on my way; thank you for a _wonderful evening_." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "I mean for the parts that you were actually _there_ and not gallivanting around the castle."

Draco began walking out of the classroom, his hands in his pockets and his nose in the air when Hermione stopped him.

"Hang on a moment."

Draco stopped in his tracks and spun around to face her once again, a mask of boredom and indifference on his face.

"So you seem to be keen in receiving facts appropriately from the right person at the right time, so let me share this delightful piece of information with you now." Hermione said with a sickly sweet voice. "I spent the year in Paris to recover from the war and put myself together and now I have done that."

She paused, and Malfoy continued to stand there staring at her, waiting.

"But there is only so much of that pretentious accent I can tolerate." She said with irritation in her voice.

His face flickered with an unreadable emotion for a split-second. "What are you saying?" he asked slowly.

She walked closer to him, a cold expression on her face. "I'm moving back to London and transferring to St. Mungo's Hospital starting next week."

The mask fell, to be replaced with a mixture of shock and horror. Wearing the same hard look on her face, Hermione walked past him and out of the classroom, leaving Draco frozen in his spot, only one thought running through his mind.

Oh, for the sake of Salazar.

E/N: YES! SHE'S BACK! THANK HEAVENS :D Awesome job Suz. Love you and miss you 3 Oh and you better get them back together or I'll have your head :) Love, Rae 3


	14. Holding On and Letting Go Part I

**Hello everyone! I shall now proceed to profoundly apologize for the incredible delay, but I won't bore you with excuses. Anyway, without further ado, here is the next chapter, which is broken into three parts. I promise the other two parts will come on much quicker, as they have already been written and only need to be edited.**

**Huge shoutout to my beta shrus6291 who slaved through ten pages. I LOVE YOU SHRUS. YOU ARE AWESOMETASTIC. And to my other beta who recommended the title for this chapter. I LOVE YOU RAETAYLOR =]**

**The title of this chapter comes from the song "Holding On and Letting Go" by Ross Copperman. (It's a beautiful song by the way; listen to it)  
**

**So please, as usual, read and review. I really do love to hear what you have to say; virtual pumpkin pasties for all those who review! Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Previously on Choices:  
**

"_I'm leaving; I refuse to spend the night with her as my date!"_

"_Don't be so petty, Draco." Ginny rolled her eyes at him. "You are going to walk into that hall with Hermione Granger next to you, you are going to be civil and act like an adult, and don't tell me you are going home."_

…

"_Was this really the only option you had?" Harry asked her._

"_Of course not," Ginny told him with a playful glint in her eyes. "Girls were lining up for Malfoy; I just thought this would be loads more interesting."_

…

"_We've already met everyone we want to, so unless you want to stand in misery for the rest of the night, let's go have some real fun." Ron pleaded._

…

"_Have you realized that all our dates have disappeared?" Ginny told Pansy and Draco, picking up the closest glass on the table to drink._

…

"_So, no notice?" Draco raised his eyebrows. "Not even a floo? 'Hey Draco, I'm going to Paris for four years.'"_

"_I just thought that if I spoke to you, it would become dreadfully awkward, or you'd try to talk me out of it–"_

"_Talk you out of it?" he said disbelievingly. "I think you flatter yourself too much, woman; I would have let you go in a heartbeat. I just didn't want to hear the news from boy wonder in the Auror locker room."_

_Hermione opened her mouth to retort back, but she closed it with a huff instead. "You know what, Draco?" she said through clenched teeth. "You'll always be a loathsome pig."_

…

_Hermione walked closer to him, a cold expression on her face. "I'm moving back to London and transferring to St. Mungo's Hospital starting next week."_

_Oh, for the sake of Salazar._

* * *

"Can you take this chart to the Chief, Hermione?" Damien handed her a folder over the counter. "Tell him he needs to review it and get back to me about the best treatment to proceed with for Mr. Grant."

"Of course," she said with a smile and reached for the folder. As she tried to take it from his hand, he latched on tighter.

"What are you doing tonight?" He asked her with a smirk.

"Uh," she hesitated, still trying to pull the chart out of his hands. "I'm on call tonight."

"Tomorrow?"

"I don't know," she answered quickly. She had only been here two weeks, and from the start, Damien Jorkins had come off looking like a tosser. "I think I'm busy."

"Doing what?" he raised an eyebrow.

She finally managed to snatch the chart out of his hand, stumbling slightly. "I don't know Jorkins; sawing my own arm off." Hermione said with clenched teeth and walked off towards the chief's office.

"Chief Whitby; I have a chart for you from–"

"Ah, Ms. Granger!" The plump man exclaimed enthusiastically upon seeing her. He stood up from behind his desk and walked around the table. "_Just_ the person I wanted to see. I wanted to tell you how _happy_ I am that you decided to join the St. Mungo's fellowship program; your skills and talents are definitely a _wonderful_ addition to our team here."

Hermione smiled and blushed deeply. "Th-thank you, sir. That means a lot." She felt herself beaming at the praise he continued giving her. She knew that this man was prone to exaggeration, but all the same, it was nice to hear.

"And how could I _forget _that you are one of the _primary_ reasons we are no longer in a war!" His deep voice boomed through the office jovially. "You, and that Weasley boy, and Harry Potter! Am I to understand that he is your _best friend_?"

Oh, so that's where this was going.

"Yes he is, sir." She replied softly, the disappointment evident in her voice.

"Does he visit you often? Whenever he does, be sure to let me know; I would love to meet that young lad."

"Certainly, sir." Hermione nodded, looking dejected. "I'll be sure to inform you."

She dropped the chart on his table, relayed Jorkins' message to him, and walked out crestfallen.

She was distracted by something hitting the side of her head. A memo floated in front of her, neatly folded into an airplane. It was her schedule for the day; she was to start down at the pit. Glancing at her watch, Hermione realized she was supposed to be there five minutes ago. Running her fingers through her now tamed hair cropped at her shoulders, she began running, all the while thinking that maybe it would have been better if she'd stayed in Paris.

"Patient is female, age 45, experiencing uncontrollable bleeding through the nose, occasional vomiting, a high fever–"

"Are you sure it's not just a skiving snackbox?" Hermione asked skeptically and half-joking, while listening to the symptoms.

"I'm not finished yet," Marlene snapped at her. "There's also severe discolouration of the skin and–you know what? Just read the chart yourself; you can brief the Head Healer once he comes." She handed the folder to her roughly and muttered angrily. "_Trust_ me; she's not one to shop at the _Weasleys'_ shop anyway."

Hermione frowned but looked through the window of the room where the patient was; her breath caught in her throat. She felt her heart race and her palms break into a cold sweat.

"Healer Granger; what do we have?" The head healer demanded as he walked in, motioning for her to follow him.

"Uh-uh; patient is female, age 45, experiencing uncontrollable n-nose bleeds, vomiting, high fevers; the skin above her elbows and knees has turned purple, and she has sprouted g-green boils and pustules all over her body and a rash in the p-pelvic regions." Hermione stuttered slightly, feeling more and more overwhelmed as she looked at the woman on the bed.

"Patient's name?" the head, Healer Robbins, asked while he held onto the woman's wrist and looked at his watch.

Hermione didn't say anything, but simply stared at the frail woman lying on the bed, with her mouth slightly open.

"Granger!" Robbins barked impatiently. "Patient's name?"

She glanced at the door which opened at that precise moment, revealing a head of silvery-blonde hair. Hermione forced herself to look away from the entrance and back to the bed; this day was just getting better and better.

"Narcissa Malfoy."

* * *

"You _don't know_?_ What_ do you mean you _don't know?_ It's _your job_ to know!" Draco's voice thundered in the hallway. Healer Robbins stood in front of him, trying to explain to him while Hermione stood inside the room, with a heavily sedated Narcissa Malfoy lying on the bed, and wrote in the chart, flinching at the shouts from outside.

"Listen," Draco trailed off as he leaned in towards the healer to read the name on his robes. "Robbins; you're a healer. Maybe you should start _acting _like one; that begins with _knowing_ what is wrong with my mother, and then _treating _it_._"

Before Healer Robbins could say anything else, Draco had pushed past him and walked into the room, sending Hermione into a panic. She jumped and quickly snapped the chart shut, looking at him alarm.

"Keep your knickers on, Granger." he said indifferently. "I don't really give a damn about you right now."

She stared at him as he walked to the side of her bed and sat down in the chair, looking at his mother as she lay on the bed, her face peaceful in her slumber. Hermione's eyes softened; she was so daft sometimes. How could she even think that he would bother about her when his mother was so ill?

"She's going to be heavily sedated for a few hours while the potions to stop her bleeding and vomiting kick in." Hermione explained softly. "The boils will also heal with the cream we're applying; it is quite possible that the purple skin was an effect of all the boils, but we're working on finding a link between all the other symptoms."

He simply leaned back on the chair, still looking at his mother with a blank expression on his face.

"You don't need to worry, Draco; she's going to be fine."

"She will be if you stop chattering and go do your work." He looked away from Narcissa and at Hermione with the same blank expression. "So I suggest you do that."

Hermione bit her lip and walked out, slightly flummoxed. She decided it was probably best to go do some research; but before that, she had one thing left to do. "Kevin?"

Kevin Ramsey was the newest and most enthusiastic first year at St. Mungo's; he came scurrying to her side as she pulled out a piece of parchment from a drawer and began writing.

"What can I do for you, Healer Granger?"

"I need you to go to the owlery."

* * *

"What do you mean Granger called you?"

"No, she didn't call me; I got an owl."

"Why, that little minx–"

"Why wouldn't _you_ call me, Draco? I'm your bestmate."

"I don't understand why you're making a big deal out of this; she's my mother, not yours. It's not anybody's business what happens with–"

Hermione was watching the exchange from outside the room, trying to inconspicuously eavesdrop while writing in Mrs. Malfoy's charts. She had concluded that Harry and Ron had definitely been a negative influence on her when it came to spying.

"Ms. Granger, has there been any progress with your research on my patient's condition?" Robbins walked to her, his hands in the pockets of his robes.

"I've been looking sir, but there isn't an illness I've found yet that fits _all_ her symptoms. I believe that perhaps Mrs. Malfoy may have two diseases that are taking effect and reacting to–"

"And have you found any substantial proof to support that theory?" he cut her off in an uninterested tone.

"Not yet, sir," She answered quickly, glancing down.

"Well, then I'm not sure as to why you're standing here filling in paperwork when there are more crucial matters that need to be seen to."

"I was just–"

"I would assume you know what is to be done now, Healer Granger," Robbins interrupted her yet again. "I expect some results the next time I check in on Mrs.–" he trailed off.

"Malfoy, sir," Hermione added. "Narcissa Malfoy."

"Right," he said once again, uninterestedly, catching a memo flying towards him.

Hermione turned around and walked away dejectedly; she'd never been reprimanded for not having completed her work. She looked into the room where Draco was scowling at Blaise, and decided that it was probably more important for her to go down to the library than stay and snoop more.

* * *

"Dad sent me an owl yesterday, saying he was well on his way; he's certain this path will lead him straight to the densest community of crumple-horned snorkacks."

Harry and Ginny both nodded, being quite accustomed to Luna and her father's obsession with the crumple-horned snorkacks.

"How long is your father on his expedition?" Harry asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Oh, he's not sure." Luna answered serenely, poking at her pudding. "He isn't in much of a hurry because, well, he thinks it's about time he retires anyway. I can take over the Quibbler anyway, so he can finally explore, like he's always wanted to."

"Sounds fascinating," Ginny said with a smile.

Luna looked down dreamily. "I hope you don't mind me suddenly popping up; I didn't mean to intrude."

"Not at all, Luna," Harry said hastily. "You're always welcome to join Ginny and I."

"That's nice," she said with a smile. "Blaise just left in a hurry, saying it was an emergency, and I didn't quite fancy eating alone in the Ministry cafeteria," Luna leaned over towards them and whispered, "Rumor has it that it's infested with nargles."

Harry and Ginny both nodded slowly again, glancing at each other momentarily.

"Where did Blaise have to go all of a sudden?" Ginny asked.

"To St. Mungo's" answered Luna simply.

"Is everything alright?"

Luna nodded. "It's not him, it's Draco Malfoy." Ginny froze in her seat and Harry frowned while Luna continued, "His mother is very ill."

"Oh dear," Ginny said softly. "Why didn't he tell me? I still have a fair amount of time for lunch; I think we should see him right away." She put her napkin down on the table and got up. "Luna would you like to come as well?"

"I suppose," she shrugged. "Healers tend to overlook the dangers of wrackspurts; perhaps I could remind them." They both stood, leaving Harry sitting.

"Let's go, Harry," Ginny gestured to him. When he sputtered, she simply tugged on his arm once. "Come _on_." When he hesitated again, she sighed and said, "It's St. Mungo's; Hermione will be there."

He stood stubbornly for a moment before angrily muttering, "Fine," and following them out.

* * *

Hermione sat down at the table, with books lying open all around her, frantically flipping her head between all of them and hastily taking down notes. It could have been any number of diseases; some were treatable, some weren't. She only hoped what Mrs. Malfoy had had a cure. But at this point, she had a list of eighteen different diseases which incorporated her symptoms and had gone deeper into those which were more likely.

She slammed her head onto desk, groaning. Her stomach growled from not having eaten anything since her apple at 5:30 in the morning.

She wished she were back in Paris again; she'd never been told off in St. Antoine's, and people were generally much nicer, if you learnt to look past the arrogant nature of the French. Hermione had never intended to stay in France for the whole fellowship program; just until she felt ready to face the constant gossip that surrounded her, Ron and Harry.

Harry had stopped reading the Daily Prophet altogether, claiming it had become even more ridiculous than before the war. Ron thought it was quite a laugh to read in the morning and the rumours cheered him up; he had always liked attention, whether it was good or bad. Hermione couldn't stand the outrageous claims the Prophet made about her love life; they made her sound like a complete slag. She always told herself that no one really read that rubbish, but she couldn't help but feel people's stares on her sometimes. It drove her mad.

"Wow," A voice jolted her back to reality. She snapped her head up to look at who it was. "Looks like quite a case; can I help?"

She sighed. "Thanks, Kevin. It's Mrs. Malfoy in room 207. These are her symptoms," Hermione slid the parchment across the table to him.

"Blimey, Malfoy?" Kevin's eyes widened slight. "Got to get this one right, now, don't we? Or we're going to have trouble on our hands."

"Trouble?" Hermione frowned.

"Those Malfoys have so much influence and power; they could have gotten _You-Know-Who_ out of Azkaban." Ramsey smirked at her and looked through the list. "Uh, have you considered Bowtruckle poisoning?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Kevin that was the first thing I considered; I don't quite see Narcissa Malfoy in the ladder-making business, now, do you? You and I _both_ know that's the only way you could get Bowtruckle poisoning."

Kevin raised his eyebrows slightly. "Okay," he said slowly. "Oh, she has a rash; you don't think its Scrofungulus, do you? If there's a slight chance, we'd have to get everybody out of that room and treated immedi–"

"Kevin, come on!" Hermione cut him off in an irritated tone, making him recoil slightly. "The definite symptom of Scrofungulus shows up on the _nose_!" She put her head in her hands, suddenly having the urge to curl up with a warm cup of cocoa next to the fire and read 'Hogwarts, a History'.

She looked up at Kevin who was surprisingly still sitting there, stealing quick wary glances at her while looking down at the parchment and at a book lying open next to him.

"I'm sorry, Kevin." She sighed. "I'm just a little frustrated with this case."

He gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it."

"No, it's not fair that I'm taking it out on you. On top of everything, everyone in this hospital seems to _hate_ me, except for you; and now I'm quite sure you hate me too!"

He chuckled. "I don't hate you, Healer Granger. As for the others, well, isn't it obvious _why_ they hate you?"

Hermione stared at him blankly.

"They're jealous of course!" Ramsey said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're the brightest witch of your age, you're best friends with Harry Potter, and you're a _fantastic_ healer."

Hermione smiled at him gratefully. "You're very sweet Kevin, but–"

"No buts; don't let them get to you."

She opened her mouth to say something else, but decided not to. "Thank you,"

He rolled his eyes. "For what? Now let's see; we've ruled out Bowtruckle poisoning and Scrofungulus," he trailed off as he skimmed through a page in one of the books.

Hermione checked her watch and grudgingly decided that she had to go up and do a quick check on Mrs. Malfoy. Saying bye to Kevin, who said he'd put the books away for her, bless him, Hermione folded up the parchment with her notes and slipped it into her pocket.

She couldn't help but feel loads better after speaking to Kevin; whether he was telling the truth or not was irrelevant, but it was an ego boost.

* * *

People openly gawked. There wasn't even any decency to discreetly whisper and glance; it was just plain staring.

Ginny entwined her fingers with Harry's, who looked from side to side uncomfortably, being pulled along by the redhead.

Sensing his discomfort, Ginny whispered to him, "Just ignore them; I promise, we won't stay for too long."

Harry simply nodded, preferring to keep his head down and let Ginny lead him wherever.

"Weaslette?" Harry heard a voice say, but it wasn't Malfoy. He looked up; it was Blaise. He was frozen in the spot, holding two mugs in his hands.

"What are you doing here?" Blaise asked, glancing behind him.

"Luna told me about Mrs. Malfoy, so I came to see if Draco was alright." Ginny told him.

"Luna," he groaned. Luna, who was intently inspecting a wall hanging, turned to him and gave Blaise a dreamy smile.

"Where's Draco? And how is Mrs. Malfoy? What exactly happened?" asked Ginny.

Blaise glanced behind him once more into the room. "Alright, you need to leave, Weaslette,"

"_Ginny_. And why?"

"Because–" Blaise stopped suddenly, noticing someone else there for the first time. "Potter; why are you here?"

Harry opened his mouth, but seemed momentarily mute, so Ginny interrupted his gaping. "That's irrelevant. Now tell me why I need to leave."

"Look, Draco is not really keen on having too many visitors. He didn't even call me; I had to find out from Granger. So I think that right now, it would be best if there weren't–"

"Draco!" Ginny was looking past him at the room across. Blaise cursed under his breath as Ginny let go of Harry's hand and walked towards the wide-eyed blonde. "How are you?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" He asked accusingly. Instead of waiting for her to answer, he glared at Blaise, who put his hands up defensively, shaking his head.

"Harry!" A different and more familiar voice called him. Harry turned around to be greeted with a pair of arms crushing him.

"Hermione, hey," he said weakly as she let go of him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked with a wide grin on her face from seeing her best friend. Looking over his shoulder however, her face fell. Draco looked even more furious than he had when Blaise had showed up, glaring at the redhead who wore a calm and patient look, seemingly immune to his anger.

But Draco turned his glower towards Hermione. "Are you happy now? Not only did you manage to get Blaise here, but Ginny, boy wonder, Lovegood; is there anyone you've left out?"

Hermione recoiled slightly at his harsh tone. She tried to defend herself but he cut her off.

"Who's next? Weaselbee? Or better yet; just call Skeeter and she can make this the front page of the Daily Prophet by tomorrow." He spat his words cruelly as Hermione felt her eyes prickle with tears.

Everyone was silent while Draco continued glaring daggers at her. "What is your _problem_, Granger? Why do you always have to meddle in other people's business? It's my bloody choice whether or not I choose to have a pity party around me!"

Blaise put a hand on his best friend's shoulder, trying to stop the scene which was attracting attention; but Draco simply shrugged it off.

"Maybe everyone isn't like _you_, Granger; did you ever stop and contemplate that in that know-it-all brain of yours? Or is that why you did this?"

Hermione felt her mouth fall open slightly. "I-I didn't–"

"Of course; Draco Malfoy's a loathsome, heartless _bastard_, isn't he? In the perfect miss goody-two-shoes eyes, he doesn't deserve his own privacy!" His thundering voice echoed slightly, and several people stopped in their tracks, watching the event unfold.

Hermione's eyes were filled with hurt as she saw the hatred with which he stared at her. She tried to say something to him again. "Draco, I–"

"No!" He shouted over her. "I'm done listening to anything you have to say; I don't even want to see you. Stay away from me, and stay away from my mother."

Hermione felt like she'd been slapped across the face.

It was Ginny who spoke this time. "Draco–"

"No, I mean it; leave! GET OUT!"

A single tear slid down her cheek as Hermione took a few steps back before turning around and half jogging down the hall, away from the blonde haired boy; the man who a year ago had gone with her to Australia to find her parents, who had comforted her, who had come to save her from drunken Muggle men at a bar. Where was that man?

Draco's chest heaved, as he gritted his teeth and walked away in the opposite direction, his fists clenched.


	15. Holding On and Letting Go Part II

**Here's part 2 of the chapter without too much of a delay. I hope part 3 will be as quick as well.**

**Huge thanks to my beta raetaylor without whom I had a severe overuse of semi colons and awkwardness in my writing. I LOVE YOU RAE. YOU ROCK MY WORLD. Drop by her page and check out her CSI NY story "Surferette".**

**.net/u/1601567/raetaylor**

**The title is still from Ross Copperman's song "Holding On and Letting Go"  
**

**Those who reviewed last chapter, I hope you enjoyed the pumpkin pasties. Please, drop a line and tell me what you think =] Virtual cauldron cakes this time!**

* * *

**Previously on Choices:**

"_It's Draco Malfoy; his mother is very ill."_

…

"_I don't hate you, Healer Granger. As for the others, well, isn't it obvious why they hate you? They're jealous of course!" Ramsey said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. _

…

_Draco turned his glower towards Hermione. "Are you happy now? Not only did you manage to get Blaise here, but Ginny, boy wonder, Lovegood; is there anyone you've left out?"_

"_Draco, I–"_

"_Leave! GET OUT!"_

_A single tear slid down her cheek as Hermione took a few steps back before turning around and half jogging down the hall, away from the blonde haired boy._

_Draco's chest heaved, as he gritted his teeth and walked away in the opposite direction, his fists clenched._

* * *

She'd always thought he'd become a different person, but in the end, he kept proving her wrong. Every time she felt as though she should give him another chance, he reverted back to his old ways. Maybe she should have just listened to Ron in the first place; perhaps it would have been much easier being with him. Everything would have simply fallen into place, like they were supposed to. What changed?

Hermione crouched next to the cabinet of the potions supply room, hugging her knees. She was sure she looked a right sight; her eyes felt a bit puffy and her nose was running. Sniffling, she reached for the pile of cauldron cloths and took one, wiping her eyes and nose.

"I must say, this look doesn't suit you."

Her head snapped up at the voice. She hadn't even heard the door open, but sure enough, Blaise Zabini stood over her, his hands in his pockets.

"The hair, I mean; it's not as wild as it used to be. Not to mention the swollen red eyes and splotchy face."

"Is there a reason as to why you're here?" Hermione asked coldly. "Other than insulting me of course,"

Blaise sighed and sat down opposite her, his back against another cabinet. "Draco is different," he said. "Not like Potter or Weasley, or even me."

Hermione stared at him blankly when he didn't continue.

"I'm sure you remember Lucius Malfoy." Hermione snorted in response, she remembered him almost too clearly. "Lucius raised him to never show any weakness. It's not that he doesn't feel; he's just never known how."

Hermione rested her chin on her knees. "I don't understand why you're telling me this."

"Well you're losing your touch then, aren't you Granger?" She answered him with an icy glare, but Blaise simply smirked. "That's more like it. He's not particularly angry at you. He's using anger as a way to not let anyone see how upset and anxious he is."

It made sense; using anger as a defence mechanism seemed like something a Malfoy would do.

"It's not Lucius' fault either," Blaise continued, "its how they were all brought up. That's all they've ever known."

Hermione stayed quiet, mulling over everything he had just told her. She'd known Narcissa wasn't bad; after all, Narcissa had saved Harry's life in the final battle. She'd also done everything to try and protect her son when he was given the task of killing Dumbledore. She was just a mother who cared for her son the way any parent would.

But Lucius, he was the reason Draco was like this. He was the reason Draco was ever a Deatheater in the first place.

"Lucius isn't a bad person either, Granger." Blaise said, as if he'd read her mind. "Right now, he's sitting at home on house arrest, probably having broken everything around him, worried sick."

She could definitely see Lucius destroying everything in his path, but worried?

"They're a family, Granger. They love each other, just like any other family, but I bet you, none of them have ever said that."

Hermione couldn't help but wholeheartedly agree.

"The relationship Draco has with his mother is very different to the one he has with his father. She's probably the one person that Draco would do absolutely anything for; when he can't do something, he feels helpless and panicked. And, of course, he shows that through his–"

"Anger," Hermione finished for him. "You've become very wise in the year I was gone, Blaise." She said with a small smile.

He smirked. "I was always wise, it's just that no one has ever bothered to listen to me."

Hermione rolled her eyes as Blaise stood and put his hand out for her, pulling her up. As she was about to walk out of the room with him, he stopped her.

"You've got to do something about your face first." He scrunched his nose up. She simply punched his arm.

"But I think his anger towards me is partially justified," said Hermione, as they walked out of the supply room.

Blaise nodded. "He let his guard down in front of someone for the first time, and she left. He's been especially nasty this past year; more so than he was in Hogwarts too."

"And it's my fault," she groaned. "I have to make it up to him somehow, don't I?"

"No,"

"Bu–"

"You don't _have _to, you _want _to." Blaise corrected her with a smirk. She was about to respond with something just as witty when a thought suddenly struck her. Her face broke out in a wide grin as she answered Blaise's questioning gaze.

"I know how,"

* * *

The day was, as usual, overcast, and he sat on the bench, counting the number of pebbles on the path. It was senseless things like that which kept his mind occupied when he was trying hard not to think of something.

"It took a while trying to find you," a familiar voice rang out. He barely lifted his head, and only caught a glimpse of her red hair as she sat down next to him.

"There was a reason for that," he answered, still staring intensely at the path. They sat in silence for the longest time, with Ginny occasionally glancing at the front entrance of St. Mungo's.

"She's your mother," said Ginny softly. "I understand."

"No," said Draco. "No you _don't _understand. I know that everyone loves their mother but it's not _like_ that."

"Then what is it like?"

He stayed quiet, all the while his eyes focusing on the ground. He searched for something else he could count but all he could see were those bloody pebbles.

"Talk to me Draco,"

"Why?" He turned to her sitting next to him on the bench. "Why should I talk to you? All I would ever get is your pitiful looks and a pathetic pat on my back."

Ginny shook her head. "I don't think you understand how friendship works."

"We're not fri–"

"_Yes we are_." Ginny said forcefully. "So whether you like it or not, I am going to sit here with you until you speak to me."

Draco rolled his eyes, but she made no move to leave, rather, she shifted slightly, settling down more comfortably on the wooden bench. He buried his head in his hands, closing his eyes for a moment.

"When I was young, my father used to have rages." Draco said with his head still in his hands. "He would break everything in sight, shout at everyone, and throw around curses and hexes." He paused to lift his head and lean back on the bench, his eyes distant. "I only caught sight of him in a rage once. I was eight years old, and when I heard the commotion, I ran to see what it was. I walked into the room the moment my father took his wand out of his pocket and blasted a hole in the wall above the fireplace."

He turned to look at Ginny, as if looking to see if she was still paying attention. She urged him to go on with her eyes.

"My mother was standing next to the door, and the moment she saw me, she told me to leave, but I didn't listen to her. I just stood there, unable to move, because I had never seen my father like this. And then he pointed his wand at the bookshelf and the books started flying off. I was so shocked, that when they came hurtling towards me, I was rooted to the spot. My mother screamed and jumped in front of me, shielding me with her own body.

"After seeing my mother in such a state, I promised myself that I would never let her get hurt, it was my job to take care of her. But I could never do it right."

"When I didn't complete the task the Dark Lord told me to, I had to watch as they tortured her, right in front of my eyes." Ginny noticed his hands trembling slightly, but his face showed no emotion at all. She covered his quivering hand with hers, ignoring his attempt to pull away.

"I failed again." Draco said plainly. "She is the only person I have left, and I've failed to take care of her again."

"That's not true, Draco," said Ginny. "You're here with her; you're doing everything you can." She noticed him take a deep uneven breath. "She isn't the only person you have either. You have your father and Blaise. You have me," she added softly.

To her surprise, he didn't protest. He listened to her talk while she held onto his hand in a way that almost made the trembling stop.

"You have Hermione,"

He flinched at this.

"I know what she did with you wasn't right, and I'm not supporting her for it, but she's sorry. I know that you still mean a lot to her, just like she does to you." Draco turned his head sharply towards the redhead, but didn't feel as though he had the energy to fight with her.

"She was worried about you, so she called Blaise. She was very upset when you said those things to her just now."

Ginny did let Draco pull his hand out of hers now as he leaned forward again, his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands.

After a long while, he muttered almost incoherently, "I didn't mean any of it."

"I know," said Ginny. Pausing for a moment, she added, "You should apologize to her."

This made Draco's head snap up quickly as he turned to her with his eyebrows raised incredulously. "Not bloody likely," he said haughtily.

Ginny smirked. "I knew you wouldn't, I just wanted to see some of that Malfoy arrogance. I was starting to miss it."

He sighed and looked away, trying to hide the corners of his mouth that were curving upwards slightly.

* * *

Two people stood in the corner, arguing in hushed tones.

"_Please,_ Harry,"

"Hermione, I would do it if I thought I could. I have no authority of that sort!"

"You're the _chosen one_, Harry!"

"_You're _the one who told me not to wear that title like a crown." He raised his eyebrows at her.

"But–"

"Why can't you just talk to Kingsley yourself?"

"He's going to think I have a biased opinion on this matter." Hermione said exasperatedly. Before Harry could argue again, she pleaded. "_Try_. For me, Harry."

His lips thinned into a straight line before he nodded once and she hugged him tightly, making him stumble backwards, before returning the hug with much less enthusiasm.

Her arms dropped to her side and Harry noticed Hermione staring over his shoulder with an odd expression on her face, as if she was ill.

He turned around, and sure enough, Malfoy was walking towards his mother's room, Ginny by his side. Draco stopped in his tracks and his eyes locked with Hermione's. They stood that way for a long time, oblivious of others' gaze on them.

They both looked like they were about to say something, but decided not to. Draco was the first to look away, as he turned his head down and walked silently to the chair besides his mother's bed and sat down.

Hermione's eyes followed him, until it was broken by another blonde who stood in front of her with a tranquil expression on her face, saying something

"I'm sorry, what was that Luna?"

"I was just saying, that if you're still not sure about Mrs. Malfoy's condition, perhaps you should consider wrackspurts and the dangers they could pose," she said serenely.

"Wh-what?" Hermione stuttered, thrown off guard. Normally, she was accustomed to Luna's eccentricities, but it seemed like it had been a while since she'd experienced them.

"Wrackspurts," Luna continued with a very serious expression on her face. "They're invisible creatures that float through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy. Apparently they are very abundant in old structures, which the Malfoy Manor is, and–"

Hermione stared, open mouthed at the girl who continued on about the general habitat of a non-existent being. Though she knew it was futile when it came to Luna, she couldn't help but argue. "Luna, assuming these creatures you call wrackspurts even _exist_ at all, Mrs. Malfoy's symptoms are all prominent from below the neck. They have nothing to do with the brain; so unless the effects of these wrackspurts on the brain are cropping up on the rest of the body," Hermione trailed off.

Her mind ran those words in her head once again, trying to remember something.

_Case study 24_

Was it 24? Perhaps it had been 42; that didn't matter anyway. Her mind flashed back to a late night in the St. Antoine's Library, reading '_Astonishing Ailments_', a book of nearly 400 case studies. The details weren't clear; she could vaguely remember the patient's age or physical description.

_Symptoms_

_Nausea_

_Severe blood loss from the nose and ears_

_Frequent fevers and hallucinations_

_Boils and multicolored pustules_

She racked her brain, trying to recall the rest; but after nearly 400, it was hard to remember all of them. However, there was one thing special about this one; something that had intrigued her when she had received the answer.

_Patient experiences seemingly unrelated symptoms. Healers carry out Isonain spells. Results are normal. Simsferous potions are used._

There had been a long list of spells and potions which hadn't provided any conclusive results or showed complications. Her head went through the list until she came to the part which may apply.

_Patient suffered mild brain contusions. However, symptoms surfaced on other parts of the body. _

Her face broke out in a smile as she remembered the rest of the explanation.

"Hermione?" Luna asked, finally having realized that she wasn't listening to her.

"Luna, you are _brilliant_." Hermione said, her eyes wide with excitement as she ran past Luna towards staircase, ducking to avoid a group of memos zooming through the air and dispersing into different rooms.

Luna's eyes followed Hermione's retreating form, and with a pleasant expression, she said, "I knew it,"

* * *

"Healer Robbins!" Hermione sprinted across the hall, catching a glimpse of the Head healer as he turned a corner. "Healer Robbins!"

He stopped and turned around just as she reached him, panting uncontrollably.

"Ms. Granger," he acknowledged her. "What do you have for me about, Mrs. Malfoy, is it?"

She nodded, doubled over and clutching her side, still trying to catch her breath. "Loads," she said with an excited smile.

"I'm busy, so sum it up in a sentence."

"I can do it in two words," She straightened and took a deep breath. "Carnthoseian Trophmatoma,"

Healer Robbins barely reacted to her words. He simply stared at her, with a thoughtful expression and calculating eyes. "That's incredibly rare, Ms. Granger,"

"But not impossible," she said quickly. "It makes sense given her circumstances; she's over the age of thirty, and it's not entirely unfeasible that she's experienced some form of trauma in the recent past, given that she was rather involved with Deatheaters," Hermione muttered the last part almost unintelligibly. However, Healer Robbins seemed to have heard it and immediately stiffened, but composed himself quickly after.

"I would assume however that was more than a year ago; that wouldn't be noted as _recent_ past."

Hermione sighed. "It's a hunch; and I think it could lead to more answers."

He pursed his lips before nodding once. Hermione grinned and felt as though she had finally done something right today.

"I need your authorization to carry out the procedure for–"

"You have it," he said in a bored voice. Robbins continued with the same drawling tone. "Notify the patient's family and send me a memo when the spells need to be carried out."

She nodded as he walked off, not being able to keep the satisfied grin off her face. Her inward cheer was interrupted with a memo hitting the side of her head repeatedly. She groaned and opened it; it began glowing red with '_Room 207'_ written in the middle.

Red. _Emergency_.

Hermione's eyes widened before she pushed past several matrons in lime green robes and ran down the stairs to the second floor.

"What happened?" she demanded as she burst into the room.

"Her pulse is decreasing rapidly and we can't bring it back up; the bleeding is starting again." Someone in the room told her while turning the frail looking woman on the bed on her side.

"Blood replenishing potions," Hermione directed one of the matrons on the side who immediately turned and pulled out several bottles, flipping them open.

She noticed for the first time that Draco was standing there, white-faced, his back against the wall. His fists were clenched and his whole body was tense.

"Draco, you need to leave," she told him gently, all the while, loud recurring beeping noises came from the monitor.

"Healer Granger!" One of the matrons called her.

"Draco, now!" she said forcefully.

"Come on, mate," Blaise came in, and grabbed his elbow, pulling him. "They need to work." Draco stumbled as Blaise tried to take him out, his eyes not tearing away from his mother for even a second. The beeping turned into a flat noise.

"Pulse lost," one of the matrons called out. "Starting resuscitation spells,"

Hearing this, Draco nearly lunged back into the room, but Blaise's firm grip held him outside. With an apologetic look on her face, Hermione closed the door in his face and shut the blinds, finally pointing her wand to the woman on the bed.

She had done the spell several times before; she had never failed yet. But suddenly, there was too much at stake. Suddenly, the prospect of failing became so detrimental that the possibility clouded her mind with doubt.

Forcing herself to push that all aside, she took a deep breath and uttered the spell.


	16. Holding On and Letting Go Part III

**I know, it has been a long time, but I have no choice but to give the same codswallop of being busy...**

**Everybody watched the last movie? Good. Anyone else hopelessly sobbed through the whole thing? I empathize. Anyone still feel their life is forever consumed by Harry Potter? Ditto. I think I can honestly say I went into a slight depression for a few days after watching the movie, realizing it was all over. But this is why we have fanfiction I suppose =]**

**I also want to notify everyone that I will be taking a bit of a HIATUS as I'm in my senior year of high school and it's a right pain. Both my editors are also insanely busy, so nobody has time to do much. Have no doubts that I will not finish this story; I repeat, I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS STORY. I'm just taking a small break. After that, I'm thinking of revising the initial chapters and smoothening out some details, and then finishing the story.  
**

**Another note (sorry this is becoming so long), this chapter hasn't been edited. Shrus and Rae, I'm not letting you edit because the both of you have so much crap to do, it's not even funny. I LOVE YOU BOTH THOUGH!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter related you see in the story below except for the plot.**

**Read and review please =] All those who reviewed last time, hope you enjoyed the cauldron cakes. This time, liqourice wands!  
**

**Enjoy =]  
**

* * *

**Previously on Choices:**

"_He's not particularly angry at you. He's using anger as a way to not let anyone see how upset and anxious he is." Blaise told her. "He let his guard down in front of someone for the first time, and she left. He's been especially nasty this past year."_

"_And it's my fault," she groaned. "I have to make it up to him somehow, don't I?"_

…

"_I failed again." Draco said plainly. "My mother is the only person I have left, and I've failed to take care of her again."_

"_She isn't the only person you have. You have your father and Blaise. You have me," Ginny added softly. "You have Hermione."_

_He listened to her talk while she held onto his hand in a way that almost made the trembling stop._

…

"_Ms. Granger," Healer Robbins acknowledged her. "What do you have for me about, Mrs. Malfoy, is it? I'm busy, so sum it up in a sentence."_

"_I can do it in two words," She straightened and took a deep breath. "Carnthoseian Trophmatoma,"_

_Her inward cheer was interrupted with a memo hitting the side of her head repeatedly. She groaned and opened it; it began glowing red with 'Room 207' written in the middle._

_Red. Emergency._

* * *

"She's stable right now," Hermione reassured him as he sat stiffly on the chair with Blaise by his side. He still hadn't said anything; he simply stared at the floor, his jaws clenched. "We have a theory of what the problem is,"

His head snapped up at this. Draco's eyes urged her to go on.

"It's called Carnthoseian Trophmatoma; it's very rare, but with her circumstances, it's possible. It's basically an injury of the mind; whether it's psychological or physical can only be determined from further testing." Hermione explained to him. All the while, he nodded slowly, a stony expression on his face.

"We need to carry out a series of spells and administer a few potions to first verify our theory and then clarify the extent of Trophmatoma that has taken place."

"Are they safe?"

"Perfectly," she answered quickly. "We will also be monitoring her and making sure–"

"How long will it take?" He didn't seem to be listening to her too much.

She hesitated. "It depends; it could be anywhere between two days and a week."

"A _week_?" said Draco. "She could become worse in a week! Isn't there something you could do to make it faster?" Hermione simply shook her head.

"And after that?" he asked. "You can treat her?"

Hermione hesitated. "We have to do the tests first and determine the–"

"So there's a possibility you can't?"

She hesitated again, choosing her words carefully. "We don't know anything until we do the tests. It's our only option, Draco," she said softly. His eyes closed and Hermione glanced at Blaise, who was watching his friend intently.

Draco sighed and stood. "Do it," was all he said as he walked past her, into room 207, and sat on the chair once again.

Hermione's eyes followed him apprehensively, and didn't even realize when someone came up next to her and spoke. It wasn't until something was shoved, rather roughly, into her hands that she turned to the girl with a scowl on her face.

"Sorry, Marlene, what was that?"

The blonde in front of her huffed impatiently. "Healer Robbins is on level 4 and he wants you to join him on his case."

"But," Hermione opened the chart and began skimming its contents. "I'm not supposed to be on his service for the rest of the day; I thought you we–"

"Well he doesn't want _me_, does he? He wants 'Granger, the second year'!" She said, doing a horrible imitation of Robbins' deep authoritative voice.

Though she sensed Marlene Hoffski's displeasure from being kicked off the case because of her, Hermione couldn't keep the proud grin from appearing on her face. Marlene glared and stalked off to another group of second years who seem to sympathize with her.

For a moment, Hermione considered apologizing. But what for? For impressing the Head Healer? For staying up all night studying in the St. Antoine library?

Instead, she simply stuck her nose in the air haughtily, and with a triumphant smile, stalked off to the staircase. They were jealous, huh? Well, they sure as hell had reason to be.

* * *

"Diasand procedure, huh?" Someone said from behind her. She turned to see Kevin reading over her shoulder. "I'm assuming I would be impressed if I knew what it was."

Hermione smiled proudly at him. "Carnthoseian Trophmatoma," she said a little smugly.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "_Also_ something that would impress me if I comprehended." She rolled her eyes at him and pulled out the book she had searched the library for from under the counter.

"_Astonishing Ailments_?" He read the title as she passed it to him.

"Read it," she told him. "It's brilliant; helped me with Mrs. Malfoy's case. I'm going to check on her. Read the book," Hermione said as she began walking away.

He smirked. "I make no promises."

Hermione chuckled lightly as she walked into the room. Glancing at the bed, she stopped in her tracks as she saw Narcissa Malfoy staring at the ceiling, a blank expression on her face.

"Mrs. Malfoy; you're awake!" Hermione snapped out of her trance and immediately walked to pour a glass of water. "You should have called someone,"

"Ms. Granger," she acknowledged her with an odd look in her eyes. Hermione held the glass out to her, and Narcissa slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, taking the glass from her. "How long was I unconscious?" she said between sips.

"Five days," Hermione answered quickly. "Draco is downstairs, I think," said Hermione. "Blaise took him down to the cafeteria to eat something. I'll call him straight awa–"

"No," Narcissa shook her head at her. "I know my son; if it has indeed been five days, he desperately needs to eat."

Hermione smiled slightly and nodded. She suddenly felt very awkward, alone in the room with the woman who, even lying on a hospital bed, had her chin tilted upwards slightly in a superior manner. She was the perfect image of an aristocrat.

"He hasn't left your side at all,"

Narcissa smiled fondly. "He's a good person," she said. "He's been going through a hard time this past year."

Hermione looked down uncomfortably, and busied herself with writing in Mrs. Malfoy's charts. Silence passed between them as she began writing a memo to Healer Robbins, updating him.

"You're working here now, I see,"

Hermione looked up to see Narcissa scrutinizing her with the strangest look in her eyes. "J-just three weeks now. He didn't tell y–"

"No, Draco didn't say anything." Narcissa took a long sip from her glass. "It makes sense now, though; he hasn't visited me much since the reunion ball. I could tell something was wrong."

Silence rang in the empty room once again, with only the sound of Hermione's quill scratching away disturbing the stillness.

"What's wrong with me?" Narcissa asked suddenly.

Hermione explained everything she had told Draco and carefully watched the woman's reactions; her expression remained calm and thoughtful the whole time.

"The vomiting," said Narcissa. "The vomiting and the nosebleeds have been happening occasionally for the past year."

"But Draco said–"

"He doesn't know," she said softly. "And neither does Lucius; I didn't want to worry them. It had never been so bad."

For the first time, Hermione wasn't particularly pleased to be correct, because if she was, it would mean Mrs. Malfoy's condition had progressed quite a bit. She could only hope it wasn't too much.

"You would tell me, Ms. Granger, wouldn't you? If there was a possibility that I–"

Though she never completed the thought, Hermione understood what the woman was asking. She hesitated for a few moments, and that was all Narcissa needed; she sighed heavily.

"When you know for sure, would it be too much to ask that you tell me before you tell my son? I would prefer if it was me telling him and Lucius."

She nodded. There was silence once again and Hermione hurried to finish the chart, desperate to leave the room. Just as she was ready to leave, however, Narcissa spoke again.

"He cared for you,"

It didn't take a genius to know who she was referring to. Standing at the foot of the bed, the chart and quill in one hand, Hermione struggled to respond.

"Whether he still does or not, I'm not sure. He hasn't spoken much in a year; mostly he listens to me talk and walks in silence." The woman was looking towards the window, away from Hermione, her eyes distant. "Perhaps that means he still does.

"I won't lie and say I was thrilled when I first heard, but I respected that he was an adult. It was time for him to make his own decisions; besides, everything Lucius and I had done in the past never quite benefitted him."

Was that remorse in her voice? Hermione wasn't sure but given all that Draco had to endure in the past, it made sense for Narcissa to have regrets. But she had saved Harry's life in the final battle; surely that counted for something?

Hermione was about to voice this thought, but Narcissa continued. "I think Draco was making amends; not just with you and the people he tormented, but with what all of us had done. Even though he wasn't doing so consciously, I think, deep down, he felt he had to make it up to himself somehow."

Now, Hermione felt like she was listening in on Narcissa Malfoy's private, innermost thoughts. But she didn't move, almost afraid that a movement would snap the woman out of her reverie who would proceed to shout at her and accuse her of being intrusive.

"I eventually came around. I support whatever it is he does now. He is old enough to distinguish between right and wrong, and the least I could do is be there for him." Narcissa now turned to look at Hermione, disproving her theories of forgetting she was standing there. But Hermione was genuinely puzzled by this point. What was this woman getting at?

"Lucius," Narcissa smirked but her face fell immediately. "Lucius," she whispered. "He must be going mad all alone, not knowing anything– do you think you could do something?" Her tone was slightly pleading and her voice shook. "Maybe a floo call or something; he's probably terribly anxious."

"I'll see what I can do," Hermione said in what she hoped was a reassuring voice.

"Right," Narcissa nodded, blinking fast. "Where was I? Right, Lucius; well, Lucius was, is, and always will be a stubborn man. He never came around to the idea of Draco–"

Hermione was very frustrated at Mrs. Malfoy's inability to coherently voice her thoughts. She suppressed the urge to throttle her and waited patiently.

"I'm not sure if he will ever be happy, but I think he has learned to respect Draco's opinions. Besides, not only is he on house arrest and completely harmless, I'm always there to watch over him." She added with a chuckle.

Hermione frowned for a moment before the realization of what Mrs. Malfoy had been insinuating dawned on her. Narcissa Malfoy was giving Hermione her consent for a non-existent relationship with her son.

The thought was both frightening and amusing. But mostly frightening.

"Mother?"

Draco froze at the doorway, wearing an expression of shock. He snapped his mouth shut and immediately turned to Hermione with a look of annoyance.

"Why didn't you call for m–?"

"It was me, dear," Narcissa explained. "I told her not to."

He stood still for a moment, looking torn, then hurried to pull a chair up next to his mother's bed. Blaise went to stand at the foot of the bed as Narcissa asked him how he was. Hermione slowly began backing out of the room, but not before she caught the other woman's eye.

There was something deeper to what she had told her, Hermione could tell. It wasn't just about her and Draco; it was about how Mrs. Malfoy felt towards her. Just as her son had begun making amends for himself, she had as well; and this was her first step. They shared a look for a long time, and though neither one of them smiled or made any acknowledgement to a moment having passed between them, they knew it was a look of understanding.

* * *

"Have you told them yet?"

"I thought it would be better if it was a surprise." Hermione smiled excitedly. Harry rolled his eyes at her.

"Well, there's going to be a whole team of aurors surrounding him; I doubt anyone would be able to see him in the hallway." Harry looked down at his slightly dented watch. "They should be here anytime now."

And sure enough, just as Harry looked up, a large group of armed wizards with stern expression came out of the lift.

"Blimey," Hermione whispered. "Is that–?"

"Gawain Robards," Harry finished for her. "The head of the auror office; what's he doing here?"

"How dangerous do they think this is going to be?" Hermione snorted and chuckled with Harry. "Next thing you know, Kingsley will be coming along t–" The words died in her throat as she saw Kingsley Shacklebolt following closely behind, pausing to smile and nod to some of the matrons who greeted him. "Oh, for crying out loud; they're making such a big deal out of this!"

"I told you," said Harry pointedly. "It wasn't easy convincing them either."

Hermione sighed and went into room 207 before the rest of them could

"Mrs. Malfoy?" Narcissa had been staring out the window distractedly. She jumped at the sound of another voice in the room. "Where's Draco?" Hermione asked her.

"He received an urgent floo," Narcissa told her. Glancing out the window, she asked, "Who are all those people? They look like aurors."

Hermione smiled. "I have a surprise." Narcissa frowned in confusion, but Hermione didn't explain further. She walked out of the room, catching the man's eye as she passed by him. He wore a blank expression, neither smiling nor glaring at her, which she took as one step closer to progress. His eyes followed her until aurors blocked his view and all but pushed him into the room; his attention was now completely diverted to the woman on the bed who was beaming with tears in her eyes.

Lucius Malfoy did not look exactly how she had remembered, but nevertheless, he was presentable. His face looked more sallow, and his stubble showed that he clearly hadn't shaved in a while. He still held an air of arrogance about him though, but honestly, she was quite impressed that he hadn't looked at her as though she was worth less than the dirt on his shoe; perhaps less than the coat he wore, but she seemed to have been promoted from the filth beneath his shoe.

Walking back, Hermione stopped in her tracks as she saw Draco, rooted to the ground, his eyes on his mother inside the room. Narcissa was quite literally glowing as Lucius put his hand over hers and she said something with a tender look on her face.

"Y-you did this?" He asked in a shaky voice.

Hermione shrugged. "I thought your mother could use a pick-me-up." Though she tried to seem nonchalant, Hermione was carefully watching Draco's face, analyzing every movement and reaction. He looked at her and opened his mouth, as if he was going to say something, but seemed to decide against it at the last minute. Instead, with his hands in his pockets, he walked back down the hallway from where he had come from.

Hermione sighed; about the best she could hope from him she thought.

"Ms. Granger? Your patient's test results are back." A matron told her from behind.

"Which one?" she asked tiredly, not bothering to turn and get the results. "Is it Mr. Ladner on level 3 who claims his honking daffodil poisoned him? Because I honestly think he's just nutters–"

"It's Mrs. Malfoy's,"

Hermione's head whipped around so fast, her head spun; but she wasted no time in snatching the pieces of parchment out of the bewildered woman's hand and flipping through it frantically.

She was supposed to tell Mrs. Malfoy first, she _had_ promised, but she couldn't bear to disturb the couple; besides, Lucius was only allowed a certain amount of time out before he had to go back in the manor under house arrest. So, while skimming over the results again, she walked in the direction the other Malfoy had retreated, hoping to catch a glimpse of where he was hiding.

But there was no sign of the blonde anywhere. She turned to one of the matrons behind the counter.

"Have you seen Draco Malfoy?"

"Who?" the lady asked, not looking up from her parchment.

Hermione stared disbelievingly. "Honestly, don't you _read_?" The Malfoys were talked about in almost every issue of the prophet, not to mention Draco was declared _Witch Weekly_'s fourth most handsome man in Wizarding Europe (not that she cared to read that rubbish anyway, but one did hear rumors).

"He's in the potions and supplies room," A woman from behind with a nasal voice replied, pointing to a door behind Hermione. "He's been in there for the better half of the day; seemed upset, so I didn't bother telling him he wasn't allowed in."

"Thanks," Hermione said as she opened the door and peered in. Sure enough, he was sitting on the ground in a far corner, his head bent slightly and his elbows propped on his knees. He didn't seem to have noticed her entrance because he continued to stare into his own lap.

It wasn't until she sat down in front of him that he looked up.

"What do you want?" he asked unkindly.

She sighed. "You know you're not supposed to be in here."

"What's your point?" She didn't answer. "I hope you're not expecting a 'thank you'."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Why on _earth_ would she? It wasn't as if she was the reason the Minister had approved a man on house-arrest to temporarily be let out; of course not, that was just luck.

"Your mother's test results are back."

His head twitched slightly, but remained bent; wasn't exactly the reaction she was hoping for.

"And?" he said after a while.

"See for yourself." She passed the parchments to him which he gingerly took and began reading. After a few lines he looked up and glared icily at her.

"I don't know what any of this jargon means, Granger,"

"Your mother had been displaying symptoms for about a year, which clearly explained why most of her potions detected a trace of Trophmatoma in the brain." She eyed him carefully and he nodded once as if to tell her to go on. "This also meant that it progressed quite a bit."

"And that's bad," he said.

"Yes." She answered. "This means the treatment would have to be even more severe and she'll need to be monitored every minute of the day for at least a week."

He frowned. "Treatment?"

"It's going to difficult not only for the healers, but especially for her–"

"_What_ are you trying to _say_, Granger?" He asked impatiently.

"Draco, she's going to be okay."

Draco was quiet. He continued looking at the parchment, as if thinking it would miraculously start making sense to him; his jaw was clenched. "She'll be fine?"

"Yes." She told him. He put the parchment down and closed his eyes. His head tilted back and leaned against the wall as he let out a breath as if he'd been holding it for a long time. His expression stayed the same. There wasn't a hint of a smile or even a smirk.

When his eyes finally opened, she saw something that hadn't been there all week; she couldn't define what it was exactly, but his face looked as though it had gained back some of the colour it had lost in the past week.

They sat in silence for a bit; Hermione looked anywhere but directly ahead of her while Draco simply kept his head down.

"I liked it better before," he said suddenly. Her eyes asked the obvious question and he elaborated. "Your hair,"

Her hand jumped to her short wavy hair, cropped above her shoulders; Ginny had been telling her it was much too short and tamed for months now, but she had merely said it was more convenient this way.

"The frizz was irritating, yes, pitifully unruly, not to mention outrageously–"

"Are you done?" She asked drily.

He shrugged indifferently. "But it was fitting."

Hermione felt herself smile slightly. She stretched her aching back and asked, "Hungry?" She already knew the answer though. He hadn't been eating all week; Blaise all but force-fed him for several days. She knew he would gloomily shake his head and continue to sit in the dark supply room for hours.

He looked up and took a deep breath. "Starving."

* * *

It was nice to have a night off after what had seemed to be an abnormally long week; she felt emotionally exhausted. Coming out of the steaming shower which had done wonders in unknotting her muscles, Hermione stood in front of her mirror, her hair dripping.

She dried it easily with her wand; it now looked atrocious, being so short it curled around her head unattractively. She reached for the French cream in her drawer which worked a hundred times better than Sleakeasy's Hair Potion; she didn't need to apply such generous amounts. Staying in France had increased her knowledge of grooming spells and potions quite a bit and she had quickly found the solution to her frizz problem.

As she held the cream in her hands, Hermione suddenly felt that her hair may in fact be too short. She put it down on the table and picked up her wand. The spell was simple enough; she pointed it at her head and her curly locks began flowing out, until they reached her upper back.

She smiled contentedly; but the frizz was more potent than ever. She reached for the French cream and without a second thought, tossed it in the rubbish bin.

* * *

**See you all in a while!**


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